Two Titania's and a Dragon
by InfernoDarkness
Summary: Post-Edolas arc. Natsu and Erza find some time to spend time with another after all that has happened, when an explosion occurs at the guild! Bringing back an old familiar face.
1. Unexpected Guest

**A/N: Kind of an important thing down below. It's something i've been fiddling with so I hope you enjoy this new one! The Scarlet Knight's Dragon is _not_ abandoned, but more below~ :heart: :heart: :heart:**

 **Chapter 1: Unexpected Guest**

* * *

It was a normal day in Fiore, as half of Team Natsu was cleaning up just getting back from a day of doing jobs. Gray and Lucy, seeing as her rent was coming, something that didn't surprise either of them, were off doing their own thing completing other missions while Natsu and Erza did a little more jobs to help the celestial mage. While they felt it sticking together was a good way to clear these jobs faster, the two of them had thought about getting some time together with everything that had just happened, hence, it acted as a date for the two of them, as everything beforehand had made things difficult for them to spend time. It hadn't been that long since the two of them started dating, but since the fiasco with Jellal getting thrown into the high-security prison, and the emotional rush of one of their own, Lisanna Strauss, returning, it had been a while till everything cooled down once more.

"You're getting stronger" a little proud, the scarlet knight walking beside him commented with a light smile on her face. Though, in comparison, she was still full of energy while he looked slightly out of it, "Though, perhaps we should have brought Gray and Lucy alongside us" she mentioned, "It would have been a good training session for them too".

Groaning, the dragonslayer was worn, beaten, as if he went through a gauntlet of trouble just after one mission, "So that's an S-Class mission in full, huh?" struggling just a little, he stretched himself, "Y'know,... you could have helped me instead of just watching from the side" slightly narrowing his gaze at her.

"If I helped you, I wouldn't have been able to properly judge your improvement from the last one" reminding him, "Your exact words when we decided on this was 'Erza! I'm going to show you I'm just as strong as you are!' and so we began picking S-Class quests so you could back those words up" reminding him.

Floating beside them, the little exceed too was looking like he was able to take it easy, "She's right, Natsu~" cashing in, "You told her you were going to better than her, remember?"

"Oi..." narrowing his tired gaze over at the flying exceed, Erza chuckled a little to herself hearing his comments being recited by the flying cat, "You could be on my team sometimes too y'know" the flying exceed merely held in a chuckle.

Drained of energy, he had remembered something along those lines had happened. Since the lost of Mystogan, and Gildarts always being away for years on end on quests, the dragonslayer felt the need to fill the gap in the power loss the guild had suffered from losing one of their S-Class members. It wasn't that Mystogan was gone or deceased, it's just he returned back to his own world, Edolas, a parallel universe that lacked magic and everyone they met were the same, only their personalities were the complete opposite. However, there was another reason why the pinkette was so determined in getting stronger. Looking over a bit, catching a glance at the scarlet knight beside him, he gazed over at her in deep thought.

However, even she had caught his gaze, "What's wrong?" asking him innocently, passing a mischievous smirk, only to have watched his gaze turn the other side with a light blush, "Natsu... what is it?" narrowing her gaze a little bit, she was getting a little annoyed with the dragonslayer.

"It's nothing" lying to her, facing ahead of them. The guild wasn't that far away so that they were hoping to have met up with the rest of their team any second now. "How much did we get from that job anyways?" changing the subject to avoid any interrogation from the Titania. He was tired, hoping that he wouldn't have to embarrass himself in public like this.

Slightly peeved that he was changing the subject like that, "Natsu, I know you're avoiding the topic" calling him out on it, "Remember what I said when we first started dating? I will not tolerate any lying. That's right above cheating" reminding him with a serious tone. The Titania was slightly strict with her rules when the two of them began to go out, though it wasn't like he was going to cheat on her anyway. Lying was just because he was too embarrassed to tell her.

He could feel her gaze piercing at him, glaring a hole into him even though he kept her sight away from hers. Frustrated a little bit, he fought himself over whether he should tell her. Just like her, he was a little too prideful to admit such things that he felt was slightly embarrassing if they were in public for some reason. It wasn't that he was ashamed to say such things about the scarlet-haired beauty, but there were things he felt he hoped he didn't have to say in front of her, or worse, towards her.

"...I don't want to see you sad again" reminding her, catching her off-guard. In order to play off how serious he was about, he simply just sighed and tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants, continuing not to face her, "I couldn't stop Jellal from hurting you, and that burns me horribly every time something happens with him and you suffer for it..." feeling lightly irritated about that, "If I'm going to protect you,... I need to be at least as strong as you, at least,... that's been the plan" sighing, not sure how he managed to say all of that without feeling a little ashamed of himself.

She didn't say anything, but stand there taking in all he had to say. Looking over at the young dragonslayer, she smiled softly before bringing him into an abrupt embrace. "You just being here, with your resolve, makes you stronger than anything, Natsu. As long as you continue to be here, my happiness is always secured" sweetly telling him. However, just as she was about to get angry with the fact he hadn't replied to her sweet confession, "Natsu..." opening her eyes, she had realized she swiftly crashed him into her armor, the young dragonslayer who was already worn out was in more pain from the Titania's accidental crushing up against, "S-Sorry..." feeling a little guilt, it was a habit of hers to forget her armor would be on when she'd go for a sudden embrace.

"I-...It's fine" struggling to reply, he gently pushed her aside, smiling up at her brightly, "Well... still, I promise I'll prove my strength" determined to face her, he smiled bright.

Smitten with his courage and strong desire, the scarlet knight was taken aback by the sudden strike of the dragonslayers lips gently pressed onto her own. Pressing back slightly, the two broke apart as they continued onto their way over to the guild as they went to regroup with the rest of their team to seek combing their efforts from the day's jobs and see who needed what for rent. However, the two of them were taken back just as a large explosion was heard. Frantic, the three of them noticed that it had come from the direction of the guild, prompting them to urgently rush off to figure out what had happened. They had also hoped that wherever the rest of their team was, that they and the rest of their guild were safe and sound.

-[x]-

As they reached the guild they ran into Gray and Lucy who must have already been there or had made it there before them. Meeting up with the rest of their team, they tried to assess the situation that was going on. The guild was fine, for the most part, but there was a large burning hole in the roof. It didn't spread, but it was still urgent enough for all of them to rush over to see what was going on. Opening the door, smoke rushed out as everyone in the guild started panicking lightly. Out on the front, Levy was all covered in soot, coughing out what she could. She seemed fine, but to contain the fire better before it became a bigger issue, they had sent Natsu, Gajeel, and Gray, up to the corner room to take care of it, leaving her, Happy, and Lucy to tend to the book-worm.

"Levy, what happened?" the scarlet-haired woman asked, filled with concern. Everything seemed fine, but still, considering part of the guild exploded, she couldn't help but still ask her fellow guild-mate.

Coughing just a little more still, she was out of breath, "I... Well..." instead of worried or concerned, she was bummed and disappointed, "I got this book a while ago telling me how to construct and Interdimensional Viewing Device, saying I could use it to create a rift to sort of 'venture' in the parallel worlds" telling her, "And with you guys telling me all about Edolas, I thought I could reconstruct it because I was curious and all, but-" dragging out her thoughts,

"Edolas?!" Lucy and Erza shouted in unison. It had been a while since the two of them had returned, but never before they would think that one of their own could have constructed such a thing, "Where did you get the information on that?" Erza had asked, "There shouldn't be anything documented on its blueprints or anything to breach 'other worlds".

It was then the book-worm got a little nervous, "Y-Yeah... I thought that too..." smiling a little nervous. As she opened her eyes, she was met with the glare from the 'Titania' who then instructed her to immediately tell her how she had obtained information on how to construct it, "S-So... I was just going to tell you ahah..ehehh..." nervously laughing. "It was a couple months or so ago... just right when Lisanna came back, I was curious about this world you all talked about" she had begun to explain, "And naturally, I couldn't hold myself back! Even Gajeel went of all people!" lightly bitter and upset about it.

"Hey!" just hearing in as the three of them came back from fixing the situation. He couldn't tell whether that was an insult or not, "It's not like I wanted to go!"

Pouting at him, she crossed her arms and looked the other way as a means to ignore him before getting back to her story. "Anyways, I was out on a job with Droy and Let, and we stopped by after we had finished to get us some treats" she continued, "We stopped by that nice cake store you like and we had some treats while I still a little upset I wasn't able to explore the curious world of Edolas having heard so much from you guys" remembering, "And just as we were eating, there was... this woman, who just offers a book on its construction, all to just by her a slice of cake" her expression slightly distorted, "It was weird, she felt like 'not of this world' or something,… I can't really explain"

"What did she look like?" Lucy pressed on, "Maybe this person is an enemy or something" looking towards Erza.

Thinking about it, Lucy wasn't entirely wrong. If a strange woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was the reason. Coming to a conclusion, the Titania looked towards Levy, "This woman,... what did she look like?" She asked" thinking that perhaps she could gain an idea on the person's identity, they could do a world sweep and see what her connection to Edolas is.

"Hmm..." thinking, trying to remember, "I think she was in her 20s?" guessing, "She had round glasses,... two long twin tails, almost like long pigtails, that started from the nape of her neck dropping just down to her waist..." she began to describe, "She wore a white blouse, buttoned at the cuffs just short of her wrist, matching the white leggings under the long thigh-high boots. There was also black gloves, with a matching short kilted skirt kept around her waist with a slightly thick belt" detailing her attire, "But what caught my attention was that she had a very hefty suitcase... we were shocked that despite how thin she was, she picked it up like it was nothing" surprised still.

Taking it all in, the Scarlet knight was a little worried, "...And exchanged for a book on how to create a… Interdimensional Viewing Device... you had to buy her a slice of cake?" dumbfounded, "Something really that valuable for something like that?"

"Well... she seemed very desperate" smiling a little hesitant, scratching the back of her head, "Saying 'Happy stories are better read with sweet delectable treats' or something, and actually showed emotion for once" insinuating that the woman was usually stoic and monotone, "She also said it she's been dying to read this book since she finally got a happy book one too, couldn't see what the title was, but it looked like a good read".

It was odd how a woman, appeared out of nowhere and simply handed Levy a book on how to create the IVD. Though, based on how it all ended they were at least safe to assume that she had failed in the process, or else something would have happened like destroying the boundaries between worlds or damaging the fabric of space. However, they couldn't help but find it strange that a woman had just appeared and offered rare texts in exchange for cake. If anyone was a real threat, it was this woman. Thinking, that if she had such an interesting book like that at her disposal that she was so 'willing' to give away, there was no thinking what else she may have. The more she thought about this though, the more she felt this woman was just an 'innocent' person who simply valued treats more than anything. Still. She felt like she's seen this woman somewhere before.

-[x]-

Restless a little, the scarlet knight rested on the flat of her bed, thinking over the events of the current day. Edolas. She had thought. It was an interesting part of their lives when the team and a few others had made their way over to the alternate universe where magic wasn't even a concept to help bring peace over the kingdom that ruled over its land with a terrifying hold. It was also the day they ran into, and met their alternate selves. Natsu had told her about the 'Fairy Tail' guild over in Extalia, and how his dopple was a very timid person who just enjoyed racing around all day. Though, perhaps the funniest she recalled, was that Gray's character was obsessed with wearing even more clothes, and Cana being a delicate woman who drank only tea while wearing a classy attire. However, the real shock for her was running into her own 'other self'.

"Knightwalker..." thinking aloud, she stared up at the ceiling, remembering the clash and the ruthless nature of her counterpart. She wondered how she would be if she grew up to be like that. Cold. Distant. Murderous. She began thinking that perhaps the only reason she hadn't turned out that way was because she joined Fairy Tail, meeting all the people she cared about, and more importantly. "Hm?" Hearing something, she looked up from her spot and watched the door open as the dragonslayer popped right out, drying his hair.

As he made his was over to her, he stood there looking down at her, lightly dulling his gaze over at her with a flight blush across his face, "...You're getting awfully comfortable so easily..." commenting, noting how she returned his glare with a playful gesture. Taking his pillow, she stole it from his side and wrapped it against her, rolling around slightly to further 'spite him'.

"Very comfortable" fluttered, she tightly clung to his pillow before taking over his entire bed. The look on his face made her feel pleasant knowing that she was winning their little, 'battle over who reigned supreme in the room'.

This was one of the rare few times she decided to sleep over his place, so when she did, she made sure that she would continue to test the dragonslayer out of sheer joy. Normally they would separate after a day working or doing things together, but it slowly got a little tiresome having to keep letting the owner know that he would be spending the night. Another issue was that since Fairy Hills was primarily a female dorm, none of the other residents felt comfortable with Natsu walking around the halls, even when they would be together. It wasn't ill intent towards the pinkette, but she felt more comfortable having a place of their own in an isolated area,...even if the first thing she had him do was perfectly clean his house until it passed 'Erza's Inspection' level of clean.

Tossing his towel on a chair, he took a seat down, seeing as the lovely scarlet knight of his 'allowed' him access to his own bed. "Thinking back about Edolas?" asking her. He simply just guessed, just hearing the name 'Knightwalker'.

"A little..." moving around, she got to a point to where she sat next to him, his pillow still tightly in her arms, "Mores I was a little wondering how things were" saying to him, "It's been a while since we came back from there,...So I began to wonder about something" stating, "Do you ever think,... I could have wound up like Knightwalker?" earnestly asking him.

A little confused, he pondered to himself, thinking over the question, "Hmm... that's a good question" saying aloud. Falling back on to the bed, using his arms as a pillow. Trying to remember how Knightwalker was brought a sense of death to his face. As much as alike she and Erza were, the real main difference was that,..."Well... aside from both having enjoyed bringing me near death..." he was trying to find a difference between them, "Actually... you both were shockingly similar... almost"

"Natsu!" lightly whacking him with his own pillow, scolding him a bit "I'm being serious" telling him.

Laughing just a little, defending himself from her 'pillow strikes', "All right, All right" weighing in, "I really don't think you could have turned out like Knightwalker" he told her. As she stopped, she allowed him to continue on with his thoughts, "I mean sure,... you both have similarity's... hair color... name" he stated a couple things, "But you have one thing she doesn't, you're compassionate, and a lot of love for everyone, even your own 'evil self'" he told her with a smile.

"...Oh" a little flustered she fell against him, holding the pillow up against herself a little. She didn't like how he'd use cheap words like that. A little upset, she covered her face up with the pillow she kept captive, "I suppose you're right..." telling him.

She felt him rest up against her as well, his arm lightly around her as he lightly embraced her closer. Even if he physically wasn't as strong as he'd want to be, he always misunderstood how strong his love was for her, feeling a little tricked as emotional strikes like these was something she had yet to find a 'counter to. Feeling the warm embrace, she nestled a little more, able to calm down from over thinking so much. Perhaps he was right. Even if she had suffered so much growing up, she was able to find warmth only a guild like she had found could bring, and more so, a person to ensure that warmth never left her. Perhaps, meeting someone like herself was what she needed, so she could give that same warmth to a person like her needed.

-[x]-

The next day had arrived, after dealing with Levy's mess the previous day, Team Natsu had split the earnings amongst them evenly, for the most part. Since most of it was needed for rent money, their combined total was around 1,000,000 jewels, meant Erza, Gray, and Lucy managed to secure funding for their upcoming rents, leaving total amount of 360,000 jewels left. Considering that Natsu lived on his own, he had no need for large sums of money, only saying he needed enough to pay for things here and there. Though, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad here and there to probably help renovate his house so that she could eventually move in. At least, it was part of the plan of hers. The main issue she had at hand was just making enough room for all the armors she has as it takes up an extra four rooms.

"I'm starting to see the short end of the job here" he lightly bitterly said, loafing around with the Titania as they strolled into town, "Well... I can't wait for the job we're doing today" excited, his expression brightened up, "Say, which job are we doing today? I'm ready to take 'em all on" fired up, he lightly slammed his fist into his other open palm.

Beside him, the Titania was looked over the statement, "It seems like it's an easy one for today, Natsu" slightly bumming him out, "This one just came in this morning, saying there's a sort of robbery out down this district" reminding him, "Now remember, being an S-Class mage means you must have total control over your magic doing the simplest of tasks".

"...So the time when we stopped three rogue mages outside Magnolia, and you taking out a fourth of district as a means to stop them, meant you had total contr-" before the pinkette was able to finish his sentence, the scarlet-haired woman had simply knocked him into the river, shutting him up about her little mishap.

Continuing to walk, she didn't bat an eye to her action, "No talking back" though honestly, the real reason she had done it was primarily because she was too prideful to admit her mistakes here and there, especially to the more destructive one.

After their little 'dispute' the two of them managed to make their way to the district in question after the dragonslayer dragged himself out of the small river in the middle of the city. Drying off, he merely lightly dulled his eyes at the woman for what she did earlier for most of the way. Granted, he couldn't entirely blame her as sometimes he knew half the things that came out of his mouth warranted some sort of physical retribution. Though, he felt in that particular instance it was because the Titania herself was trying to avoid being caught up in her own web after telling him that they were 'profound' in controlling themselves.

"We're here" Erza announced, stopping the both of them from advancing as they reached the shop. It was a weapons store, one of Magnolia's finest, so she found it strange that someone was able to run in and steal something from them without anyone noticing, "Keep an eye out an- Natsu!" calling out to him, she noticed that something was weird with the dragonslayer. It was like he caught a scent that was confusing them, something she hadn't seen before, "Natsu... what's wrong?" asking him.

It was bizarre, he himself couldn't really pinpoint it, but he continued as if he needed confirmation. Stopping for a moment, pondering, he quickly went up to the Scarlet Knight and took in her scent, causing her to fluster and smack him for doing something embarrassing in public, "N-No... definitely not the same but,..." somehow despite the impact she gave him, he was still able to figure out whatever was bothering him.

"N-Natsu!" her face was burning red, almost the same color as her hair, "What do you think you're doing in public like that?" her heart began to race slightly. Never before had the pinkette done anything shameful like that, she felt. However, as the words replayed herself, her face dyed further as she implied this was something normal for them in private situations.

Reeling in slightly, he was completely out of it, dizzy, "S-Sorry..." getting up, he shook it off as much as he could until he regained his normal composure, "It's just I caught a strange scent" telling her, "It smelled almost a little like you, but there was a tiny difference in it... I just had to make sure" still trying to recover from the maiden's blow.

"Oh good you're here bu-" the owner of the shop popped out, changing her attention towards him. Stopping for a moment upon seeing the Titania's face, he was baffled beyond compare, "W-...Didn't you just come by earlier?" asking the two.

This caught the attention of Erza who was beyond baffled, "No... We just got here" trying to make sense of the situation, she had wondered if Natsu's situation was somehow involved, "Would you mind telling us what happened?" honestly asking him.

"Y-Yeah..." still a little startled, the owner began, "You see... I was opening the shop this morning, and I swore you stopped by" he told her, "Only you were wearing another 'armor' I assumed, and you asked what kind of weapons we sold. Well. I was taken aback by your strange behavior, seeing as you acted like you've never been here before, that it slipped my mind someone was running off with some of my wares" informing her. It was strange, first Natsu was talking about something being 'slightly different' and now someone was claiming to have seen her not too long ago. "Well, what I mean to say is that..."

Before the man could continue on, a familiar voice entered the room, "I brought back the stolen goods from your store" it was strange, not by the words they used but because the voice was exactly like her own, turning around, she had seen a young woman with hair as scarlet as her own, only it was just slightly reaching her shoulders. "Oh, you're here" passing on an indifferent, but perhaps irritable tone. There was no doubt about it, as it was the same revealing, halter-type armor breastplate top that left much of her cleavage and stomach exposed, with light-armored gauntlets and greaves on her forearms and forelegs, respectively, as well as her thighs. She also had a dark bikini bottom with a piece of cloth obscuring her hips and wore a dark scarf around her neck, while carrying around a large lance behind her.

"Erza,... Knightwalker" she uttered. It was her other-counterpart in Edolas, standing right before her. "What are you doing here?" a little nervous, her heart sped up, wondering what the Royal Captain of the 2nd Magic War Division was doing here.

Ignoring her slightly, the duplicate of hers passed by, dragging the bag of stolen wares and dropped it in front of the man, "I tracked the thieves to a small den" informing him, "Took me a while, but I felt they were working for a much larger group so I took it upon myself to deal with them as I pleased" telling him, "Anyways, I'll see you around" waving the man off as she made her way off. She seemed differently than when they last met. Sure, she was still the tough, isolated hunter, but after their 'quarrel' Scarlet had thought she managed to leave an impact, but it still seems she's a little cold to her.

"Knightwalker, wait!" wanting to talk to her, Erza Scarlet, not Knightwalker, made ways to stop her, "What're yo-"

However, just as she rushed up, Natsu quickly threw himself at Knightwalker, taking them both by surprise as he rammed her into the wall of the store before throwing her to the ground, keeping her pinned. It wasn't rough, but he was holding her by the shoulder and covering her mouth as he lightly glared at the front. Furious by his actions, the Titania was about to reprimand the dragonslayer for his burst of violent action against her counterpart for no reason. Though, she felt a presence that she began to know what he was talking about. Outside it was slowly being swarmed with people from the Magic Council detention officers. Natsu must have caught wind of them, seeing as their scent had appeared a few times during their travels.

"What do you think you're doing, Dragneel?" mumbling, her eyes lightly narrowing against the dragonslayer. Shoving him off for his sudden action, she peered out a little to see the place outside littered with soldiers. However, he had quickly pulled her back down out of sight, watching as him and Scarlet exchanged looks to one another before nodding in sync.

Making a move, Scarlet had made her way out of the store as the pinkette did his best to subdue the doppelganger from Edolas. The whole district was flooded with members from the discipline committee and she had a feeling her other was the reason why. Pushing that thought into the back of her mind, she pressed on outside as the leader of the committee came to greet her. It was the same person that had come for her back earlier on when she was arrested as a publicity event so that they Council was properly doing their job to control the mage's and their guilds.

"Good Evening, Titania" he greeted her. "We received an anonymous tip that a mage with scarlet hair was seen here earlier interacting with a dark guild on their own" mentioning to her, "Seeing as you and your guild are infamous for their misdeeds against the Council's wishes, I had come to see what the ruckus was about" informing her.

Wondering about the connection it had with Knightwalker, she pushed it aside for now as she confronted the man, "I came here on a job" telling him with a sure light smile to ease the suspicion, "I haven't heard anything about a dark guild as I was just here to speak to a client about a request" informing him.

"Oh?" curious, he had wondered what the Fairy Queen was doing here and what the job entailed, "We had eyes that one of the stores here was robbed not too long ago" stating, "Turns out the robbers of the store made off with some hefty weapons" continuing on, "We found a Dark Guild not too far from here, and the members identified by the citizens around matched that the perpetrators belonged to that guild. Every member of said guild has been recently reported deceased. We believe Fairy Tail to be involved as your history on acting without permission from the Council or any other means exceed your reputation"

Things were starting to get a little tense, "Oh?" she couldn't deny that Fairy Tail was infamous for getting involved with Dark Guilds here and there, especially since Phantom Lord, Eisenwald, and Oracion Seis, "Well I can assure you, Fairy Tail has done its best to keep under the Council's radar" assuring him.

"Can I see your request form then?" asking. She could tell that he didn't trust her a bit, but seeing as it was the only thing they could to fully trust her words, she had no choice but to hear, "It's not like we don't trust you, we just want to have proof that Fairy Tail isn't involved in this matter. Worry not, I will personally tell Gran Dorma myself that Fairy Tail had nothing to do with this matter".

Tensed, she knew that if she handed him the form about the robbery request that there was nothing she could do to get the council off of them. The worst part of the matter was that there were things she needed to ask Knightwalker about, that if she was found out here, she wouldn't be able to finish such things. She had to think fast, though, the longer she waited to show him the form, the more suspicious she would look.

"Excuse me, miss!" catching them both off guard was the weapon store owner. "You ran off without your form" saying as he made his way over. Relieved, she had seen that he held a separate request form that was probably drawn up in the time she had spent talking to the head of the committee, "Here, thank you very much for helping us moving the materials around" with a smile, he placed the reward money, "Good evening, officers" paying homage to the members of the Magic Council, "I trust everything is okay?"

Curious, he took a look at the request form, "The job entails that you requested help to gather, stock, and organize materials" reading the 'fake' request out. Pondering over it, passing a glance over to both Scarlet and the shop owner, "That's enough" making a motion to send his team away, the head of the committee began to make his way off, "However, remember this, if we find trace that Fairy Tail was involved, we will show no hesitation to make ourselves comfort at your doorstep" saying as he passed with his men.

"...And Fairy Tail will be welcoming you with open arms" saying in a low voice as he was just far enough away. Though, she had noticed that he was whispering something to one of his men, hoping that the dragonslayer caught wind of it, or at least bits of it.

With the threat passing, she let out a relief as she heard a light brawl happening from the shop. Alert, she and the store owner rushed over to see Knightwalker and Dragneel raring to fight against one another. She was probably annoyed that Natsu had, without her permission, held her out of sight and sound while everything had settled. Though, with them gone, the Edolas-self had found it a perfect opportunity to pay the dragonslayer back for his sudden strike. She noticed she still had her ever-changing spear with 10 forms, the Ten Commandments, at her disposal. Seeing as they were in a magic-rich world, there was no doubt her magic weapon could work and operate as long as it was intact.

"Explain yourself" pointing the spear at both the dragon and the Titania, "What do you both get out of protecting me?" asking aloud, "I am nothing in this world, as such, aren't I allowed to act freely?" questioning the two of them, "I've committed no crime other than my continuing my duty"

Sighing, she approached her other self with no qualms, "Why don't we all go some place quiet and have a little talk" saying. Exhausted, this was more than she wanted to deal when she woke up this morning. "I'm sure you're curious as to why you're here in the first place, and hopefully we can find a connection to all of this" sighing, she re-quiped into her casual white-sleeveless blouse and blue skirt, "Natsu~ come on, let's go" calling out to her beloved.

A little frustrated as he had just gotten pumped up for a fight, he sighed, letting the flames around his fist extinguish, "Sure sure" making his way over. Making sure Knightwalker had followed behind him.

For a moment, she wasn't sure that her doppel was going to even bother follow them, but considering the idea that she herself wanted to know what happened she had no choice but to comply. As the dragonslayer made way beside, his hands in his pockets, she fiddled a little with her hands as they continued to search for a place to talk. Passing glances, she paid mind between both her hands and then his until her consistent behavior was noticed by the pinkette. He had seen what she was doing in the corner of his eye and eventually gained an idea of what the Titania wanted. Seeing that, she sparked just a little as he took her hand, lacing them gently as the three of them made their way off. Whatever happened, they were hoping it could be easily fixed.

* * *

 **A/N: And here it is! The first chapter of a three part...four part...(Darky forgot) but it will be at most 3 or 4. It was an idea I had while discussing with a couple friends of mine that "What if Knightwalker reappeared?" and so they kind of helped me form this idea. I've been joking about the "Darky Dark Universe" but I kind felt it seemed fun to experiment with that dontcha think? ;) Anyways before I forget, I must pay dues to 'thehappy' for advising I use the "Interdimensonal Viewing Device" from their own story to make this a little reality. Before I was going to use the "Anima" again but after doing a little look-up I found out it wouldn't work as it's only a "magic" thing and couldn't be used to bring in Knightwalker. (Darky really wanted Knightwalker) Hey! not only oooohh I see you lil' devil. But yeah, friends and I talked about Knightwalker and thought it'd be nice to bring back Edolas, even just its people again. I know Knightwalker isn't the same 'cold sadist' and she's more gentler, buttt, I thought it'd be nice to still have some of that parts of her retain. But yeah! I hope you all enjoy this new story (People, Darky Dark just doesn't want you good readers to mob them) that too! And the other stories like 'Boiling Water' and 'The Scarlet Knight's Dragon' will be uppp well, after! Also! I'm going to put up a poll on my page? so pleaase check it out :3.**


	2. The Fairy Hunter

**Chapter 2: Fairy Hunter**

* * *

Standing there, Knightwalker was taken to the Fairy Tail guild so that they could discuss the possibilities of what could happen. There weren't many other places Scarlet thought it would be safe to discuss what was going on, especially considering it was hard enough as it was moving from the guild and back. Natsu's house was a little ways too far for them to discuss something this 'dire' and if they were going to head over to the guild anyways she felt it was easier just going there instead of worrying about separate trips. Though, the moment everyone in the guild paid mind to the two scarlet-haired women that entered the room, she was given a mixed reaction. Some were stunned, inspecting to see whether there really were two similar looking Erza's. Few, the ones she recognized as the ones she fought were laced with light terror, having forcefully subdued them herself. And the others simply didn't care.

For her, it was a different story. This was Fairy Tail and in Edolas, she was known as the 'Fairy Hunter'. Effortlessly. Mercilessly. She had killed members from said guild in cold blood. Even now, she could see the dying corpse of those she had slain as if they were bound to her memory as she viewed the people inside. It was like time never left, and her punishment to atone was to forever remember the sadistic deeds she had done. Perhaps it was only because she was standing beside the two, her doppel and the dragonslayer, that she was able to feel a little composed.

"Wow... it's really like... seeing doubles" some of the uttered, rubbing their eyes to see if there was something wrong with their vision, "I mean there are some differences, the hair and yeah,... but..."

The comments made her feel a little strange. She cut her hair because she refused to be mistaken for the Titania next to her. Though, it seems like there was no escape from it no matter how hard she fled. "A-Are you guys sure it's okay?" a little stung, it was Wendy, the little dragonslayer with long blue hair who was still terrified of her, "Y-Yeah... I mean..." the middle Strauss child added. She, she could understand, because she's made her watch her friends pass before her eyes. It wasn't that hard that the short white-haired mage passed glances of light shock to the dragonslayer, probably wondering what possessed him to not 'take her out' or 'avenge' the fallen members of the Edo Fairy Tail. However, he had spotted her gaze lightly and passed a large smiling grin, further confusing her.

"So... let's figure out what happened" Scarlet spoke out, getting everyone back on topic. "Levy!" calling out to the small light blue-haired girl. She seemed a little out of it still, but perhaps she was more excited than she was the day before, "Yesterday when you were using the... Interdimensional Viewing Device, what was the last thing that happened before your machine exploded?"

Pondering slightly, "Well..." she recalled the previous day's events, "I didn't have much to go on seeing as how I wasn't _invited_ to Edolas" still a little upset about it, "So I've asked Pantherlily and Lisanna for a little help about it" casually answering, "I mean,... Lily was there his entire life, and Lisanna was for a couple years" pouring her evidence out. "If the Anima acted as a gateway, I just searched the area for all the points Mystogan had repressed, analyzed its pattern, and went to see where it led. Then I got a large glimpse of this huge world! And I saw that Mystogan was there,...Well, Lily helped identify him" she said, "So I scoured around... then BAM! KAPOW! It exploded" using her hands to help visualize the explosions, her expressing fell in defeat soon after.

"...That does explain a little then..." Knightwalker had finally spoken up, catching everyone by surprise. Before she could continue on, some people were shockingly surprised she sounded the SAME as Scarlet, further proving that she was a real doppel, "I was to report to my liege, King Jellal, or rather, your 'Mystogan', about the status of reconstruction" she explained, "However, just before I had a chance, I woke up in the middle of nowhere..." Recollecting. She was just about to make her way to Mystogan or rather, Jellal from Edolas. The next she knew, she was surrounded by a barren/desert. In a blink of an eye she wasn't sure what was going on, "But then... I came to realize I was in Earth Land, your world" she told them.

Taking in, it was a little hard for some to believe that their Mystogan, was not only named 'Jellal' but also he was a form of royalty. To this day he was a mystery to the guild and family he grew up with. "What gave it away?" Levy had asked. She was interested because physically there shouldn't be any difference between their worlds. Only the lack of magic seemed to the only 'specific' difference, "I mean virtually, our worlds should be the same right? You wouldn't have thought you were just 'warped' some other part of Edolas?"

"It is because of this" a little stern she pulled out her lance, "This is a magic weapon, my Ten Commandments. When my Lord destroyed the device giving our world magic, all magic weapons were just then that, weapons. However..." without warning she whisked it to the side, and the guild watched as her weapon transformed, "Because I am able to switch between its ten forms at will... there was no other to conclude I was in your world".

Everyone who was surprised aside from those who had seen that first hand in the other world. Though, the only person in the group who felt unease and terrified. Was the short white-haired woman. Fear took her eyes as she timidly, nervously made her way back. It was noticeable by everyone, and a part of her knew, no, her entire being knew, she was going to tell them. One worry led to another, gained another concerned by more. The biggest was when the eldest sibling paid mind, trying to comfort her about her strange sudden fear. However, what would happen next she knew was out of her control.

"Fairy... Hunter?" the word escaped didn't go unnoticed by any of them. Soon the entire guild heard the word, and began to question what the term meant. The eldest turned to face Scarlet's parallel self in light shock, "Explain, Knightwalker" Mirajane, the eldest looked over. This one was different than the one she knew. While she still held the same kind and gentle look, the eyes she gave was filled with anger and darkness, "Lisanna here says, you're the 'Fairy Hunter' so why is she terrified of that?"

The term and situation took both the Salamander and Titania by surprise in the sense of dread that it had gotten out. It wasn't that they thought it was going to be a problem, it was just the fact they didn't think it'd escalate to Mira of all to find out. "They called me the 'Fairy Hunter'..." she began to explain to the mage, "...Because I have personally killed members of this guild in my world" the look on her face didn't display guilt. But a cold, distant, dulled gaze.

The words that were spoken resonated through the guild, shocking and bringing terror to those around. It wasn't long until anger began to spread, and grief for their fallen, that the guild was ready to strike. Angered, filled with darkness, the she-devil had morphed into her 'Satan Soul' and flung herself to take revenge for her fallen comrades; the ones she could not have met nor saved. Luckily, Scarlet had intercepted the strike, using her 'Purgatory Armor'. Shrouded in pitch dark armor enveloping her entire body, she blocked the strike from Mira's 'Strongest Take-Over' with the flat side of the thick large blade. However, even she was using all she good to resist the she-devil's magic.

She gripped tight to her spear, watching and tracking how many others escaped and tried to fight. It wasn't the dragonslayers, or the ice mage, knowing that even though they too had wanted to get back at her, they've already settled their 'arrangement'. However, just as a few others were ready to strike, Natsu had appeared and kicked them away, just to a point to knock them back before looking at her seriously, "We're going, Erza's not going to take them all on".

"Don't order me around, Dragne-" before she could finish her words, he had already taken her by the wrist and pulled her away through the guild doors as the blue flying cat followed. He didn't stop, even if she was having slight trouble due to him having her by the wrist, he didn't slow down for her or wait till he caught up. Though, it was perhaps because there was no time he felt they could afford to waste. Any slip up here could have wound up detrimental to them.

It bothered her. Why would the two of them have any means of 'saving her' from what she had done. There were no feelings of guilt or regret when she spoke about what she had done. The actions the guild took was appropriate, considering to them, she was a threat who would end their lives without a care in the world. It pestered her. They've already prevented the authorities of this world from taking rightful actions, and now they were openly willing to stop their own guild from striking her down where she stood. For some reason, that bothered her.

-[x]-

Eventually, the two of them made their way to a small house in the middle of the woods. It was a single floored, one roomed house. The bed was off in the corner of the building. The bathroom and shower looked like it was just recently installed was placed just on the opposite side. Shelves were around the places, each of them holding different things, to which she took as a pile of just random junk the dragonslayer must have wanted to keep out. Just a few moments after they felt they could relax, there was a knock on the door. Wary, she turned to face the pinkette and exceed who seemed calm about it, and there was a point to it, as it was Scarlet that made her way through the door. She was a little scuffed and whatnot, but for the most part, she moved around like she was fine.

"I'm guessing Mira gave you a little trouble?" asking, the pinkette focused a little as he closed in on her, as if he was inspecting her for anything serious, "Anyways, what's the next plan?" yawning just a little, he rested his hands against his head, "I mean I doubt we can just keep ourselves cooped up in here... for one we didn't even install a fridge yet"

Groaning, the little exceed had plopped down onto the table, "And Natsu's been promising me he'd stuff it with fish for me too…" bummed, she watched as he merely dulled his gaze over at the flying cat with light disdain.

Requiping out of her armor, the knight stood there in her casual wear before strolling over to the side, making her way onto a chair. "Good point" agreeing, she crossed her legs to wonder what the next move should be, "Well... Levy is going to be working on the IVD in hopes that she can perfect it enough to send Knightwalker back" explaining the situation, "That'll be maybe two or three months though, so-"

"Hold it" Knightwalker interrupted the Titania, "What makes either of you think I'm just going to sit here for two to three months" declaring. She still had that cold tone of disobedience in her voice as she narrowed her gaze at the two, "I am thankful for both of your assistance, but I've no wish to stand around" she took it as a 'house arrest' by the context of their words.

The simply exchanged looks with another before sighing a little, "Fine" not wanting to argue, the scarlet-haired woman didn't want to bother, "You can leave if you want" she told her, "But we're the only chance you'd have to getting back home" reminding her, "Three months, tops" she told her, "If we fail, you're free to do whatever you want..."

Mulling over it, she wasn't sure what other options she had left. Leaving now would mean there was no chance she'd make it back home, and while she was happy that her magic weapon worked without problems, there was still the sense of security she felt back at home. It was the only place she had she felt she even could consider such a place. Making her way over the door, coming face to face, she weighed her options. It was either being in a magic rich world where she could do as she pleased, reinvent her life, or have a chance of going back to the only place she could call 'home'.

"Three months" she told them, coming to a decision, turning slightly away from the door to face them. "But what are you three going to do?" asking, "Watch over me like I'm some kind of infant?" a little irritated with the thought and situation.

However, then the pinkette groaned in exhaustion, "Not really no..." telling her, "Erza and I have jobs to do... I mean if we're ever going to get this place fi-" however, before he could finish, the Titania had struck him out of embarrassment, cutting him off.

"Natsu!" flushed, she sternly looked at him, "...She doesn't need to know about us" though, it was hopeless as it was, knowing that the former Hunter had likely already figured that out earlier, "Nevertheless, he's right" telling her, "We also can't draw attention to us either way" reminding them, "There's a chance we may run into the Council if things get a little too much again" it still bothered her about that situation.

Raising his hand, the tiny exceed, "ooh ooh!" a little excited they paid mind to Happy, "We can always go fishing evveerrryydaay" dreaming lightly about it with a large smile on his face, "Fishing is a great way to spread happiness".

"…I'll pass" staring at the cat with a dead, lifeless expression, "I'd rather sit in this house with Dragneel and Scarlet than spend it fishing…" rejecting the cat's proposal. It was strange to think that a short while ago,…she used to see this thing as royalty. Something that instantly revolted her.

Yawning just a little, he stretched, "Well that's that" telling with a large grin, "I'm ready to get some food though" scratching the back of his head, "Or train,... something! Sheesh I haven't been able to do anything all day!" annoyed, "Hey,... Erza" both of them easily looked at him alert, realizing his folly, "Uh, no... I meant..." he too wasn't sure what he was doing. Sweating a little in deep contemplation he pointed over to the Titania, Scarlet. "That one, you" saying, catching her attention. However, being called 'you' by her beloved didn't sit well with Scarlet, "How about we go a few rounds out back? Then get something for dinner" grinning, filled with excitement.

"Sure" seeing as there wasn't much else going on, she agreed to indulge in her partner's destructive habit, "Though remember, Natsu, our agreement if you can't managed to make me feel it" passing a determined smile on her face. Turning over, facing Knightwalker, Scarlet gave her a calm casual look, "You're free to join us" she mentioned, "It's not much but I'm sure you're aching for a rematch" reminding her of the last fight they had before she and Natsu left Edolas. "Just know, Natsu and I make it 'interesting'" smiling, she pulled the pinkette against her, "Winner has complete authority of the 'loser'".

Snickering a little, Happy looked as if he was trying to hold in a laugh just thinking, "Gee,… I wonder how many times Natsu has had that chance to win".

By the look on the dragonslayer's face, she could tell that he's likely lost battle after battle against the scarlet one beside him. Though, it began to question her then, watching as she followed the two out, his arm wrapped around her comfortably as she stuck a little against him, watching her smile against the dragonslayer as they laughed on their way out. For some reason, this sight began to make their nauseated, watching her 'double' be as affectionate as she was with the pinkette. Perhaps, though, she felt like it was because she felt that it was 'her' in that scenario, as their bodies and faces were more or less the same. Thinking that the training against the Titania and Dragonslayer would take her mind off of it. It hadn't been _that_ long since the two have fought.

-[x]-

Watching at the sidelines, it was a match between the scarlet-haired knight, and the young man she was with. Thinking about it, she hadn't clearly seen him fight, which made her wonder how he managed to fair against the previous king. Thinking earlier on, she hadn't seen much, aside from the fact his hands were engulfed in flames, and the feeling she got from him was entirely different. Standing there, the air was tense between the two of them. It amazed her that just a few seconds ago they were being romantic with another, and now that they've come face to face with another in a bout, they pushed it all aside for the moment to give this their all. Curious, she and the exceed decided to sit on the ground to take in the moment.

Engulfing his fists in flames, Natsu had generated fire around himself, shrouding himself in a bellow of flames. However, this hadn't fazed the young woman a bit. Facing him still and full of composure, she was wrapped in an orange and red piece of armor. Her hair was in twin tails, with wings attached to her facing her. For some reason seeing this, he had looked like he was going to thoroughly enjoy this. "Glad to see you're taking this seriously" mentioning, allowing his flames to flare out here and there.

"For the sweet little dragon, even a Queen would need protection" whisking the blade to the side. This was Erza's 'Flame Empress Armor', which drastically cut any fire related damage to half its total damage taken.

Watching, he gathered as much magic in him as he could before spewing out a violent stream of flames. Her eyes shot open, never before had she seen such a thing, but then again, she had heard people praising Mystogan for defeating the 'Demon Lord Dragneel' who could breath fire and use it like his play thing. Scorching the ground, the Titania simply watched as it followed before taking it head on without flinching. It was only a few seconds before she whisked the flames away, quelling the flames instantly, however, he seemed to have waited for that moment as he closed the gap between them during that gap.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" the flames engulfed around his fist flared in intensity before striking her head on. Because of his little 'strategy' he was able to get in maybe one or two punches before the scarlet swiped him with the blade. Although he had made contact with his strikes, they were ineffective, showing either the armor had nullified the brunt of his assault, or that it wasn't that strong to begin with. Scarlet was a fearsome opponent after all.

Scarlet continued her counter assault, charging ahead at him with the intent to cut him down fully. Though, that didn't faze him, as he swiftly dodged most of them, at most getting a small scratch from just barely making it through. They continued, watching as Scarlet went on the offensive with all her might and forcing him on the defense. All three of them knew what were on the other's minds. He was waiting for an opening he could exploit, and she could tell that, which was why she was careful with her strikes and continued to keep focus. She wasn't going to give in to the dragonslayer's wishes, which meant he would have to create his own.

Engulfing his hands with burning flames, he clutched the blade that was swung at him using all his strength to keep her from cutting through him, and he struggled against the Titania's might. Gritting his teeth, the blade was inching in on him. "Is this all you have,... Natsu?" asking him, struggling as she was forcing the blade onto him.

"Heh,.." smiling despite his situation, "You haven't seen anything yet..." telling her. Grunting, forcing all his strength, flames erupted around him, bursting as he slowly managed to budge the strike back. She couldn't tell if Scarlet was going easy on him, but for the short moment he was matching up with her just a little bit. "Fire Dragon's..." the flames were getting hotter, the more his determination grew. He wasn't pushing it up anymore, but changed the direction so that his being wasn't the facing the point of her strike. "...Claw!" all the fire transmitted to his feet as it forced him up.

Free from blade by managing to shove it to the side, he spun half way and crashed the back of his heel against the Titania with all his might, managing to push her back in a fiery crash of flames. Though, he didn't let up and followed through by leaping after in propulsion of flames. Flipping forward, he dropped a heel crush once more, only for her to block it with the flat of her blade. Leaping off, he looked a little exhausted, but was still raring to go.

"I'm impressed" giving him praise, "Not only have you knocked me back a few feet, but also made me struggle against that last strike" As intimidating as she they made it seem, there were still moments apparently where the two would exchange comments and compliments, "It seems all that training is paying off"

Smiling a little menacing, "Of course,... I have a tough coach who just happens to be my girlfriend" commenting, regaining some of his stamina, "I swear, this time I'm definitely going to win, Erza"

"Bring it, Natsu" smiling the same smile back, she faced him with determination, repositioning herself.

Like that, the two erased the 'loving' air between them as it fell back into a serious atmosphere. these two were not like how they were when they last were in Edolas, and that was only a short few months. Remembering back when she fought the Scarlet Queen, it was tough and fierce fight, where both of them were throwing their all to defeat the other. Could she say the same now she's come to see the Titania after possible months of training? Watching the two of them continue to spar without the thought of holding back, she wondered how much confidence they have in the other to be sure that 'nothing bad' would slip. Though, she was slightly envious, if anything, that was an option.

-[x]-

Night began to fall, and the three of them finished their little training battle they set out to find food. Things were still slightly hectic up in the guild, not surprising as they needed to give them some time to simmer after the issue with the knowledge that this Erza had killed many of their parallel guild mates. As such, they made their way over to places they could find to eat. The battle between her and her counterpart was a lot more difficult than she could imagine, thinking that sometime in the gap since they last fought she had gotten far stronger than she could imagine. It wasn't too bad, however, but what really piqued her interest slightly was the 'dragonslaying' magic she had witnessed. The way he fought was monstrous, a type of magic she hadn't seen before. Then again, the only times she had was just recently in their guild.

"Does she always have you do this?" asking, Knightwalker passed a look over to the dragonslayer as he carried her like she was royalty, "It's just, I can't help but feel you're a little used to this…" noting as well as the slightly disappointed look on his face.

Shrugging his shoulders, the flying blue cat added his own comments to the situation as well, "It's so common, that I think Natsu actually enjoys this".

"We're going to have a long talk later about 'when you can be on my team' for once, Happy" darting his eyes lightly at him. Looking over at her, he thought for a moment before replying, "Well... It's all fine" smiling bright, "This just means that I just have to get stronger, that's all" filled with determination, "Besides, it's not like you got out easy either" managing to laugh a little at the situation.

A little irritated with how he brought up, a light fluster spread across her face as she bitterly looked over to the dragonslayer. Doubling back to the fight against Scarlet, she had managed to knock him out with swift consecutive blows before striking him into the ground. Then when it got to her turn, she was determined that with her 'near limitless' amount of uses she could use her Ten Commandments, she would be able to go as far as she could without worrying to waste all the magic since she was currently in a magic-rich world. However, she was proven wrong as the Titania herself, Scarlet had overwhelmed her with some of her newfound armor and strength. In fact, she probably only lasted half as long more than the pinkette, which made it easily to rank that if she had fought him, she wasn't sure how it would she have fared since she didn't have flame resistant armor.

As such, Knightwalker was forced to 'submit' to the Queen, having decided to follow in their battles rules for the mock battles. Her punishment, was that she was forced to dress alongside her for the remainder of the night, meaning she was subjected to letting the Earth Land counterpart of hers to do as she pleased. It wasn't too terrible, but she was to wear 'appropriate' clothes to eat dinner, or at least in public such as blue jeans, with a white shirt tucked in lightly under an opened leather jacket.

"Natsu" calling out to him, "Let's eat here" stopping him short. Wearing a casual sleeveless dress, the 'victor' of the mock battle stopped him at a sort of 'easy' looking restaurant, "Well... That's enough" taking a moment, she let herself down, fixing her outfit before looking over at him, "Don't think you're off the hook" reminding him, "You'll still have to take me back" reminding him with a victorious smirk.

Smiling a little dead, there was no room for him to ignore or decline, "Yes Yes, I know" telling her. Though he was probably worn out from his fight with her, there wasn't a slight hint that he wasn't willing to put as much effort as he could to heed the Titania's wishes.

The four of them walked in the restaurant. It wasn't fancy like where most couples would go, but a simple on where most families had gone to. Luckily, they didn't have to wait long for a table, as they had arrived at a great time compared to how things mostly were. Everything was simple, something like a diner for most, and since they had just wanted something on the fly; it was easier than placing a reservation they felt. They were fixed in one of the corner booths, something special supposedly as the people who owned the place recognized them from some of the times they worked here for a job, which was probably why they allowed the exceed in as well. Seeing as she didn't know any better, as all the names were different from what she was used too, she had merely gotten the same thing as her doppel, while the pinkette was just excited with getting the best meat he could, and Happy ordered a bunch of fish.

Sitting there felt a little odd for the one from Edolas. This was perhaps one of the rare few times she had ever shared a meal with anyone in such a comforting place. From all her years in service she was either in the barracks eating, or the other occasions of eating out in the wild or the Royal dining room. Looking around, she noticed all the young kids with their families, or couples on a date. The atmosphere was much lighter, welcoming, if she had to place a word to describe it.

"So,... Uh..." breaking her out of her thoughts and gazing around was the dragonslayer in deep contemplation. "I'd rather not have to keep confusing you two, so..." it wasn't that hard to see what he was getting at. For him, he was used to calling his lover 'Erza', and while she shared the same name, he didn't want to confuse either of them over any accident, "Since we're going to be together for a while, show should we go about this?" asking allowed, hoping Scarlet would have an answer.

Intrigued, she was curious as well, "You bring up a fairly good point, Natsu" a little shocked she hadn't thought of that herself, "I usually just call you 'Knightwalker'" saying as she faced her counterpart, "Since it was the only thing different, but is there anything you'd prefer?"

"It's fine if that is what you're comfortable with" placing indifference on it, "Just as I call you 'Scarlet' is fine with me" not really caring, "However, you could call me whatever you wish, Dragneel" saying as she faced the pinkette. Dragneel was ironically not because of his counterpart, Dragion, but rather because she had heard people refer to him as 'Demon Lord Dragneel' who spewed out flames.

Thinking, he looked as if he was about to explode from lack of an answer. It was then he looked at her intently, seriously and full of focused, something she felt a little nervous from for some reason. She felt like he was taking in everything about her and trying to come up with something that would be a 'clever' name, "Red" or something she felt somewhat insulting that deserved a light jab in the shin from the Titania, "O-Oww" stifling it, "I was kidding!" telling her, "Well... can't really change your name unless I call _you_ 'Erza', and then I'd have to call..." it sudden struck him as his faced burned, "...That would mean I would have to call 'my' Erza, something like 'dear'... or 'sweet-"

"Don't... say another word" Knightwalker had lightly shoved the napkin cloth up against his mouth. Happy laughed to himself a little as her face went a little red, feeling a little sick as well. Scarlet on the other hand, was flushed, assuming they haven't gotten that far in their relationship. Letting it die for a couple seconds, she turned to face the knight, hoping to get the lightly nauseating thought out of her head, "Speaking of which, Scarlet" catching her attention, "How long have you two,... been together?" asking.

Distracted by another question, the scarlet knight eased out of her flustered state, "Five months" admitting to her, "Around the time we were in Edolas, we had just started this relationship of ours" telling her, "It wasn't that hard really" she began to explain, "Natsu and I have been friends since we were fairly young, so for a while were never really sure it **_was_** love we felt" she began to explain, "But then..." her expression fell into a gentle smile, smitten with the thought, "I suppose our feelings blossomed and we were just too unsure if they were of friendship or lovers"

While it was very heartfelt, she felt a little odd hearing the beginning of their love story, even if it was her who had asked her in the first place. The look, her voice, almost everything about her was very much like her, which made it very hard to separate the fact that it could have been her herself, Knightwalker, in that position. Watching them, it was strange to her that friends could blossom in something so wondrous, but also distant from her understanding. No, her lack of knowledge over the matter wasn't what was wrong, but rather it was her inexperience in feeling it. As the food came eventually, and the three were overjoyed, she was a little distracted over all the events compiled together.

-[x]-

Dinner was over, and after allowing the Titania to do as she please, considered she won both mock battles, both her and the Salamander were more or less worn out from subjection. Luckily she too began to grow tired, thinking that she should 'end' their punishment and call it a night for now, allowing them to carry her back to Natsu's house in the middle of the woods. It was sudden, but because it was a sudden guess in the house, they hadn't planned on any guests recently, they were a little perplexed on what to do about the sleeping arrangements. The scarlet knight herself felt no harm in sleeping with herself, considering she was her double, almost like a distant twin sister, and neither did the dragonslayer, seeing as to him, he was another 'Erza'. Though, she was fairly persuading them into allowing her to sleep on her own for today.

"Though,... I didn't think they'd give me the bed" rising up slightly, the Edolas counterpart looked down on the fast make-shift bed on the ground with the two of them sound asleep, the little blue exceed plopped in the middle. "I'm a little jealous of you,... Scarlet" saying in a low voice, she watched as she slept peacefully next to her love.

As with earlier, the scarlet knight had given her a spare set of sleep wear she could use for the night. As she fell back to the bed, feeling the warmth of it envelop her, she began to try and fall asleep. For the next three months this was going to be her 'prison', a place in the neck of the woods with only two people she could rely on. It wasn't that bad, she felt, feeling that she had at least someone to communicate with, but perhaps it was just as pointless. After three months, she would be going home, that was the plan. Why didn't she feel guilt for her actions? The look of fear and terror in their faces didn't bother her a bit.

"I... should have let them hang me at the least" she thought aloud, not thinking about it too much, "If I met face to face with someone like me, even if it were all in the past,... I wouldn't have allowed me to pass off otherwise..." was she sympathizing with this world's Fairy Tail? or perhaps other things were on her mind.

Yawning a little, she heard the noise of something waking, "Don't think too much about it,..." to her surprise, she felt a little startled as she realized it was the dragonslayer who was half asleep, not having the energy to completely get back up, "They just need a little time to get used to you,... I'm guessing you've changed..." yawned a little, "Well, Erza seems to think so anyhow".

"But...!" wanting to argue with him, "I've killed them in cold blood, and I would have done the same with you" reminding him of their struggles together when they first encountered, "Besides... do you really think I'd want to waste my time wanting to befriend those?" glaring light daggers at him.

Stretching a little, he repositioned himself before falling back down next to the scarlet queen, "Dunno..." honestly and tiredly answering her, "Erza thinks so" telling her, "And if I were the person to doubt her beliefs, I couldn't in my right say that I love her" telling her.

"Natsu..." almost coincidentally, Erza stirred in her sleep, mumbling unknowingly, "Stop breaking things,..." complaining a little in her sleep. They didn't know what the Titania was dreaming of to have said that, but they passed it off as nonsense as she fell back asleep.

The pinkette had assumingly fallen back asleep next to the knight, leaving the hunter to question things. She felt It was hard enough as it was, knowing they had to openly fight and argue with their own for her sake. It wasn't a matter about who was right or who was wrong, personally she felt that for the moment they were just pretending to care for her, as she was lost on her way, but thinking back to today, her mindset slowly began to change. Looking back, the hunter was in no question ignorant of her words. Though, the more she thought about it as well, perhaps she could use this time to get stronger as well.

Strength was the only thing she knew. The strength to break the path forward. To survive in a cold world all by herself. Killing and reigning 'supreme' over that cold feeling of loneliness. Every moment the two were being 'affectionate' a strange nauseating feeling rose inside of her. The simple reason was because. The two of them were so alike, identical to a point, that as usual, it could easily be mistaken for her to be in that situation. And the more she thought about that, the more she correlated that with weakness. She could never allow herself to be that weak.

* * *

 **A/N: YEAH WE'RE HALF WAY THEERRRE WOOOOOAAAHHH LIVIN' ON A PRAY- (Uhm... Darky? Stop) awww, you threw off my groove ;w;. But yeah! Chapter 2. I wrote this alongside The Scarlet Knight's Dragon, but the reason you get this first is because I'm fairly stupid (The real reason is because they're rewriting it as it bothered them about something, so expect it fairly soon) also, stuff happened... like my laptop crashing ;w; (They cried) Shush! ;w;. So everything got pushed back because I spent a whole day trying to fix it. But wish me luck! ;w;. Anywho! Ramble time. I really didn't think I was going to make FT attack Knightwalker after hearing she was named 'Fairy Hunter' but then again it made a good title (Check it, Dark added title names for once) ch'yeah~! but i thought it'd be a nice thing to add here and there. It was sort of confusing, but i'll do my best differentiating between Scarlet and Knightwalker, and hey! what's going to happen next time?! :O (cue dramatic shock horror music~). Oh! And before I forget! 'thehappy' is who helped me on the actual name for this story... (Cause Darky is terrible with names... they struggle with chapter names) so im thankful for helping me with my lack of 'name making' XD lots of love :heart: :heart: :heart:**


	3. Wavering

**Chapter 3: Wavering**

* * *

A few days had passed since she had decided to stay with the two from this world, though it felt longer than intended. Because she had nothing else to do, she was often bored sitting around the house trying to find means to pass the time. Sometimes, Scarlet and Dragneel would occasionally take her out to places when they weren't on jobs, since currently they were trying to avoid getting eyes from the Council, but the guild was still a hard spot. However, it didn't bother her that much, considering that there was no need to bond that much with any of them, she felt it was easier on everyone's part that they still feared and despised her. There wasn't anything to it; she did what she was told because orders were how things worked. She loved it. The power. Crushing those below her. Being able to dictate things was perhaps the only time she's felt 'alive'. With it gone, she wasn't sure what else there was left.

It wasn't all that bad, however. The dragonslayer's home was secured in its own part of the woods that almost no one ever finds or ventures towards, and for the moment they brought in extra bed so that all of them could sleep in the building. After all, they had three months for this to go by. Unfortunately, even with such 'luxury' as a private place, and occasional moments of silence, it was hard for her to adjust. Sometimes, she would just close her eyes and lie on her side; hoping time would fly by fast enough so that she could go home. Though, the burnt image of the two in her mind made it near impossible to rest; their love for another disgusted her.

"Kni-... Uh,.. Re...Erza no.2?" it was the dragonslayer as he opened the door. Even if she wasn't already familiar with the tone and sounding of his voice, the fact he was still troubled by what to call her was what would always give it away. "We're back" he announced as the two of them made their ways in. As usual, the two of them would walk side by side, and although the lack of physical touch would be there, she could feel the tension between them.

Beside him was her other self, her Earth Land counterpart, Erza Scarlet. "Sorry it took us so long,..." apologizing, "The job wound up taking longer than we assumed it was going to be" exhausted, she requiped out of her armor and took a seat, "You could come with us on these, you know" throwing a suggestion out there, "It can't be that interesting nor fun to just sit around here day after day".

"You told me it would be suspicious having two Erza's walking around" she reminded in a little bitter tone, narrowing her dull gaze at her, "So sitting around here day after day,..." lightly mocking how she said it, "...Is all I _can_ do".

It wasn't easy for any of them, having to worry about Fairy Tail being eyed by the council, and especially having another Erza running around. After the little mishap with the Dark Guild not too long ago, the council had been keeping a good eye on the guild just in case their own 'Erza Scarlet' would act suspiciously. As far as they knew, no one of the council knew of Edolas, and that anything about it could pose great consequence as then there would be nothing they could do about Knightwalker. She would be taken in for questioning, and knowing her, she would have no problems fessing up to what actions she had already done. In a worst case scenario, the scarlet soldier would have fought her way out of apprehension.

Thinking, the Titania was in deep contemplation, wondering what they could do to remedy the problem. While it was probably logical to keep her here in sight so that they could avoid any future problems, she had to admit that it wasn't a very 'fun' thing, especially towards someone like her own self. That was why she had wanted to get Knightwalker and the Fairy Tail guild of this world to be on good terms, at least passable. She could then move around, not have to worry. Though, the problem still lied that she had killed members of the Edo Fairy Tail, and although Lisanna was part of this world, she was still subjected to seeing the 'Fairy Hunter' at work.

Looking over to the dragonslayer, he eventually caught her gaze and looked at her back. Curious, she passed a light 'mischief smirk' and for some reason, his face went pale for a moment, as if he understood what she was getting at. "No... Absolutely not" rejecting whatever idea she had before she had time to announce it, "You're sending me ALONE to try and convince them? No ways, Erza" backing away slightly, beads of sweat starting to form with a death filled expression.

"Natsu" calling out to him, she crossed her arms, looking at him seriously, "You're the only one who can convince Lisanna that Knightwalker poses no threat to our guild here" managing to ignore whatever opinions she, Knightwalker, had herself, "Besides... I have to take care of things back in Fairy Hills" revealing the true reason with a light sigh, "I'm still technically the 'Dorm Mother' so I can't just go around quitting just because we're in the process of moving in together" telling him, "Besides,... if anyone can pull off the 'impossible' more so than myself, it's you" giving him a content smile, lightly blushed.

He couldn't help be react to her praising, but it was quickly getting overshadowed by the thought of having to deal with Mirajane by himself. Gray wouldn't care too much, nor would Gajeel so that was a calming thought, but it was still a little troublesome having to deal with the she-devil, her brother was someone he could take, but not the eldest Strauss sibling. Since Lisanna returned they were both happy to know that she was safe with them once more, but with the scarlet threat just looming around in the house, things didn't seem like it was going to go easily as planned.

"...This is nauseating... I'm going to get some fresh air" a little peeved, she stretched out after rising out of the bed, "I suppose I can do that much, _right_?" asking, uncaring as she already was almost out of the door. "...I don't need anyone, I'm perfectly fine with how things currently are".

The breath of fresh air she needed from the 'lovers' was probably the only issue that was going to be troublesome. It bothered her that Titania was wasting her time like this mingling and dealing with the idea of 'love' when there was much more she could be using her time in. Nevertheless, she needed a better way to spend the time, or else she would start to slack off and fall behind. Considering how the last time a few months ago, she and Scarlet were evenly matched, and seeing as how she lost so pitifully, she could only conclude that being part of the restoration force had diminished her skills too much. Thinking for a moment, the atmosphere around the place wasn't too bad. There was a large enough gap between the house and the start of the forest once more. It wasn't perfect, but she felt she could use this to her advantage.

-[x]-

As night began to fell, she waited until the two of them were asleep until getting up. It wasn't that hard as Scarlet was worn out from her duties as Dorm Mother accompanied by battle training jobs with Dragneel, so it was safe to say that she wouldn't get up from her spot. Though, it shouldn't be bad, she was just going to be outside around the house getting some training done so that she could keep form and perhaps, catch up to the Titania. Grabbing hold of her Ten Commandments, she closed the door so that it wouldn't be too loud and accidentally draw unwanted attention to the couple in the house. It had been a while since she fully used her forms of the Ten Commandments, so taking out the 'Dark Guild' the past week was a little rough trying to readjust using it. However, this would be the perfect time to get used to it while she could.

Holding the spear in her hands she practiced casual movements, thrusts, and moving about, envisioning scenarios of being surrounded by her enemies. Soon, she was getting absorbed into it, slashing and gouging around, catching her breath, until she realized that it was sinking its fangs into her once more. Rushing around, leaping around, impaling, swerving, the rush and thrill was returning as she continued her image training. It was time for the test to see how far she could use it.

"'Silfarion'!" thinking, she whisked the lance to the side as the spear began to glow. The four jagged prongs of the lance changed into a triangular, arrowhead-like spearhead, with golden and red stripes adorned with a white circle encompassed by the thick golden armor layer. Feeling the rush it surrounded, she rushed around the house in near blinding speed uncountable times, feeling like she was one with the spear once more. Coming to a swerving halt, she spun the spear along with her, "'Mel Force'!" once more the head of the spear changed into a wide spearhead, edges on the side curving inwards close to where the spearhead is mounted, and a silver colored glowing orb connecting to the shaft, enveloped by twelve diamonds around it. Thrusting it towards the sky, she let out a violent vacuum wave towards the sky.

As it subsided, she had let her guard down, "Woah... that was pretty cool!" startled, she quickly changed her position and pointed the point of the spear towards where the sound was coming from, "Doing some late night training?" the cheery grin of his already bothered her.

"Dragneel..." lowering her point lightly, she was a little annoyed, "What are you doing out?" asking, "Shouldn't you be back playing 'house' with Scarlet?" taking a jab at the relationship of theirs.

Though, he had pushed it aside, "Eh... I wanted to do some training too" saying, "Normally I sleep with her for a few hours till I know she's out cold, then I come out and practice" telling her, his hands held behind his head.

"..." for a moment, she thought that she was being 'watched and followed', like her freedom wasn't allowed for her, "Then if it's fine with you, I wish to train alone" telling him, "Just because you and Scarlet chose to be 'weak' and fall in this concept called 'love', doesn't mean you two have to enforce it on me" telling him.

Stretching out, "Well if that's what you want" taking her by surprise. She was sure that he was going to say something about 'no, we should all train together and improve one another', but he had simply just accepted her wishes, "Though,... it would've been more fun to train alongside someone as strong as you" smiling a little large. Leaving with those words, he began to march off to his own devices, waving her off, "Have fun! Hopefully one of us can take down Erza!" chuckling a little, the voice getting further away.

Thinking of it as nothing to worry about, she pushed it off and continued on her own, now aware that the dragonslayer was on the other side practicing as well. She could hear him and see the flames of his extend out from the corner of her vision, but she paid it no mind, seeing that he was kindly giving her the space she wanted. Thinking she had finished her image training, she rested it up against the side of the house, so that she would know where it was. Seeing that she could definitely switch back without problems mid-fight, the only thing she felt was lacking was her own physical properties. The Ten Commandments, for what they were, usually augmented her own strength, meaning that any follies she had couldn't be completely covered up by the spear's gifts. Luckily, she still remembered some of the basic things she had to do during military training, and while the area around weren't suited, she could at least work her way with the basics, and improve on them to increase the efficiency of her improvements.

-[x]-

Before she noticed, days had slowly begun to pass into weeks as she preoccupied herself with training. She wasn't sure if it was her drive to be back to equal to the Titania's strength, but every moment the two went out on jobs, or the guild, she would place herself outside and work as much as she could to improve herself. The same would happen at night. Once she got a clear sign, she made her way out and continued the same, despite knowing the pinkette was out there as well. It wasn't too bad, she felt. Although the two of them would sometimes run into another during the course of their own training, it wouldn't last too long as he knew she didn't want to be bothered. Even Scarlet. She had tried hard to get her integrated and be friendly with the guild, but even she respected her wishes and the three of them would just spend the evening doing mock battles, or going out into Magnolia for things.

Sitting, the two of them was at one of Erza's favorite dessert stores after going out for other things. Since all she had was the one outfit, she had been 'borrowing' clothes from her Earth Land counterpart, for things such as going out to places, or to use for training. Though, with the pace the two of them were going at, it was getting a little harder to make up for the clothes being done between the two of them, which meant it was decided they were going to get her some clothes she could use, and some training outfits that were usable more often.

Staring at her treat on a dish, Knightwalker looked up at her curiously, "...Are you sure it's okay?" asking her. She didn't know why, but lately she felt a little off just 'receiving' all of this just for being here, "I just don't want to impose is all" mentioning in a light tone, "You two have been doing a lot as of late…"

"It's fine" smiling, she assured her look-a-alike, "Besides, most of it comes from Natsu's pay from jobs here and there. He's really been pushing hard and taking on a lot of jobs" proud of her dragon, the Titania took a triumphant bite of her strawberry cake.

She wasn't entirely wrong. Even though she didn't want to admit it or acknowledge it, she was impressed with how persistent he was every night, furthering his ability to increase his magic power. That coupled with taking jobs here and there enough to pay for the three of them must have been difficult, but all she ever saw when they'd come home was an exhausted smile, as if he was proud to have accomplished a lot. The way she acted too, as if she was proud of him being the way he was instead of ridiculing how below her he was in strength. Looking back, even some of the other members of the guild here were clearly below his strength, seeing as he easily swatted them away without worrying of hurting them.

Frustration began to build, trying to find the right words to say or the phrasing she wanted. "What..." speaking out, "...Why are you with someone so pitifully weak...?" bluntly asking her with indifference. The response she got was a massive change, as the Titania's eyes suddenly began to pierce their way into her.

"Natsu,... Is by no means, 'weak'" she told her, calmly placing her treat back on the table, crossing her arms and legs. "He may not be an S-Class Mage, but he works hard to surpass everyone above him" she began to explain.

It still didn't answer her question. All she was saying was confirming that he was below them, yet for some reason she'd waste her time with someone like..., "I've watched all of your mock battles,...Scarlet" telling her, "No matter how much you praise his efforts, he still won't surpass you or even come close...!" it frustrated her, the clear gap between the two, "So why-"

"Because I believe in him..." answering her with a calm and gentle look. "He makes 'impossibilities' happen" explaining to her. "When I couldn't stop Jellal, my former flame, he forced himself to consume magic that could have killed him to give all he had to beat him,... Then when Laxus, one of our former members tried to get us all to battle out 'who gets to stay', he pushed till the very end, even if he had help from another dragonslayer..." she continued to tell her, "The love he has for me,... for everyone, is what gives him an unreachable strength, Knightwalker. But it bothers you, doesn't it? Feeling that warmth reaching you because of how terrifying and strange it may seem?"

She wasn't lying. Clenching her fist as tightly as she could, the warmth and care the two of them were giving her was hard to ignore and she did all she could was push it aside. What made it worse was just how 'forgiving' they had been, doing all these things when she admitted she didn't care what she had done in the past. However, she couldn't have believed anything Scarlet had to say about 'love being strength'.

Having the strength to protect the ones they cared about, or the ones they loved, such power couldn't have existed. However, maybe that was because she had no one along those lines. Forgiveness was never acceptable, and that was probably why she thought of her Lord, King Jellal to be unfit to rule over Edolas. He had forgiven all those that betrayed, as if he proved he was 'better than them'. It was that kind of feeling that annoyed her the most.

"Knightwalker..." catching her off guard, she snapped out of her thoughts to look up at the identical scarlet-haired one across from her, "One day, I hope you feel something like that..." picking up her treat, she resumed to gaze as it with light sparkles in her, "When you do... I'm sure you'll understand it better" taking another happy bite, she looked like she was lost in a universe of dreams.

The day continued with her mind in deep thought, reflecting over Scarlet's words. She continued to sit there as the scarlet knight began to dreamily eat her treat, however, the hunter couldn't help but think about all she had to say earlier. ' _Because I believe in him_ ' were the words that resonated throughout. It was the same look she had during mock battles, whenever she would compliment him on his progress or tenacity; she gave him those same eyes. Filled with admiration and belief, the tenacity of love and cheer that surpassed all.

"Oh...? What're you two doing here?" bringing her out of her thoughts, the two turned to face the dragonslayer, seemingly on his way back to the guild. He was beaten, worn, looked like he had just gotten out of a huge mess somewhere. Beside him was the fluttering cat, hovering around.

Excited, the scarlet haired woman beamed, "Natsu!" eagerly calling out to him, "They came out with a new strawberry cake!" the look on her face was something she had only seen when talking to him. Scarlet was kind, loving, but the look she had for the pinkette was always something, special. "Here, Taste~" taking a bit with her fork, she held another hand under to prevent the piece from falling as she motioned it over.

"Hmm?" curious, he took the bait and chomped onto it, tasting what the Titania had wanted him to. Like that, the look on his face brightened up, "Wow! That is good" grinning a little large.

Proud, "They never cease to amaze how much they can improve on such a 'perfect' creation" she added. Softening, she came back to take in, "Did you just come back from a job?" asking.

"Yeah" a little drained his shoulders slumped just thinking about it, "I wound up just taking a few at once because people in the guild kept giving me 'looks'. Well,... that and I didn't feel like getting myself into a point where I'd have to explain and answer another boring question".

Patting down the seat beside her, she waited till he took a seat down. "I thought for sure everyone was fine with it by now" thinking, "I mean a lot of them lost steam after realizing that even Gajeel and Juvia had once been 'enemies' but became our allies".

"Well... It's not really any of them" exhausted, "It's still Lisanna and Elfman" telling her, referring to the younger Strauss siblings, "I'm tellin' ya,... it's been exhausting trying to avoid them".

Floating on the table, away from Scarlet's treats, the exceed took a seat as well, "Yeah,.. they were kinda rough on Natsu" admitting, "Natsu already broke a couple tables because Elfman got in the way a couple times".

"Lisanna... is the girl with short white hair,... right?" asking, Knightwalker intruded on their talk, "She was the one who was the most afraid,... though I cannot fault her" saying. It was a little strange of her to get in on this talk, but, she began to think by staying silent, nothing would get done.

Smiling, the pinkette dismissed it, "It'll be fine" telling her, "I just need more time to talk to Lisanna is all...without her big siblings around" a little terrified, he recalled when he had to tiptoe around Mira, considering she 'somewhat' went back to being a demon. "Though, it is getting tiresome..." falling onto the table, "I wish we could just get it solved and done with already" yawning slightly.

She watched from her side as the dragonslayer was promptly pulled onto the Titania's shoulder to sleep. The way she wrapped her arm around and rested against her, once more, displaying their affection to another began to get to her. Even though she wasn't there, she could feel the 'warm' feeling they gave as he'd nestle tiredly against her, and she would eat her cake while occasionally giving him a bite or two with pure enthusiasm. A few times she'd giggle a little because a piece of the frosting would wind up on his noise, a noise she didn't think was possible to come from a voice they shared. However, she'd nip onto it like he was part of the cake, something that flustered him to a point he looked like he would pass out.

Like usual, the more 'lovey' they got, the more it began to bother her. It was infectious. The more she watched them stirred a revolting pit in her as she felt she was watching 'herself' getting close and affectionate in that manner. It was still eerie looking at them, since the possibility of being that close with someone else was being displayed in front of her. However, she reaffirmed that there was no way she'd wind up like the Titania.

-[x]-

As the days continued to pass, training harder than she ever could to drown out the nonsense that Scarlet was speaking and the kindness they both displayed, Knightwalker did what she could to steel her thoughts. She worked harder, pushed herself to the limits, and began to constantly try to surpass what she was currently was. Weakness. It was weakness that was trying to infect her, and she was determined to retain who she was. A soldier that made herself strong by casting aside such pitiful things and braced her heart shut. It was her fault to begin with, making deals to stay when she could have easily made her way off, found a place for herself and maybe continue what she's always done. The only problem was that Scarlet wouldn't be too far behind if rumors were to spread, and then she'd just wind up back to this point.

Out of breath from overexertion, she slumped to the ground, using her spear to keep her up. She had been doing a mix of visual training and basic strength training to keep up with herself, pushing to a point that would mark where she needed to push past. Though, even she began to realize she was pushing herself a little too hard, thinking that she was using the frustration built from the couple as a means to propel her further. There was nothing she would do to erase the disgusting feeling she began to feel inside. Running till exhaustion, Pushups, squats. Visual training had only done so much until her anger overtook her and she'd just quit on the spot and head into the shower.

"Uh... Knight...Erza...!" turning around she saw the cheery dragonslayer next to the Titania, though for some reason they were both trashed and covered all over. She had assumed they had just came back from a tough job, and proceeded to see how she was doing as she watched them wave out to her as they approached from the woods and making their way over to the house, "Finished training?" asking with a smile.

Having enough strength, she pushed herself back up, facing them, "Get to the point, Dragneel..." out of breath a little still, she faced them with light irritation.

"I'll tell her" Scarlet had said, a little impatient, "We spoke it over with the guild, and our Guild Master says he'd gladly offer to make you a temporary member" telling her, "I mean, until you leave of course" she continued to explain, "I know... you don't want to... and I'm sorry we did something without consulting you" wincing a little, she fell slightly, though Natsu had caught her just in time, "Thanks, Natsu…" smiling, she used him as leverage as she continued to explain, "It's not official though until you've gone there, however" she finished, "But this way, you can go around and do as you please,... go on jobs, town,…we've made preparations to make it easy for you to go about without problems"

Frustrated, "If you know I'd refuse, why would you both go out of your way to do something like this?" asking them, having gained back her strength, "I don't want anything to do with your guild..."

"You said didn't want to 'impose' remember?" reminding her, "Listen,... you don't have to interact with anyone,... or make friends with any of them" telling her, "We aren't kicking you out, but maybe... it was a little..." a little worn, she stifled a little trying to hold in pain. She was hurt, it wasn't badly as noticed that she was able to make her way over with him, but it must have been catching up with her. Was the job that bad that even she couldn't do?

As she fell a little more, Natsu braced her a bit, "Erza,... you need to take it easy" telling her, "Let's go, I'll...help you in the bath and get some rest, okay?" telling her, a little flustered and bothered just thinking about it. Turning to make their way into the house once more, he stopped for a bit and faced Knightwalker, "The offer is on the table" assuring her with a smile, "In any situation, just think it over" smiling a little larger, "Even if you don't care about the other people, or anything, Erza and I are just excited you've been allowed to join is all" sheepishly grinning before making their way back.

She didn't understand why they continued to be nice to her, why they went on doing things without her consent. The way they looked must have meant something went down for them to just come walking in like that and telling her she was allowed to join. Why? She had killed people from Edo Fairy Tail, what made them believe that she wouldn't do the same to the Fairy Tail guild in this world? ' _...do you really think I want to waste my time befriending those?_ ' flocked around her head. She had confronted the pinkette on that matter just the day she was here. It bothered her how persistent they were in trying to be her friend.

The Titania had assumed that just because they were nice to her meant it was having an effect on her. What other reason could she have to stay? She had no way home, and her only hope for a chance to go back was to stay with these people so that there could be no delay. Filled with anger, she did her best to continue on with what she was doing, trying to think of anything else but those silly words. However, they would always come back to her, as would have the reply he gave her that same night. ' _Erza seems to think so... and if I were the person to doubt her beliefs, I couldn't say that I love her_ '. The confidence in both her belief and his faith in her,... made her sick.

-[x]-

However, less and less she felt the drive and motivation to keep training during the late night since that day. It had been a few weeks since they talked out at the treat shop, however, somewhere along the way, what the Dragonslayer and Titania had done began to creepily make its way to her, feeling an infection burrow deep in. Was it guilt she was beginning to feel? A little disconnected she sat against the walls of the house, her spear resting right next to her. Under the light of the moon, she felt the cool gentle breeze brush right past as her thoughts became muddled. She could hear salamander on the other side of the house, training as she contemplated her thoughts. Why was she the way she was? The cold years of abandonment and had forged her into the perfect killing weapon. No sympathy for those she's slain. No regret for those who sealed their fates opposing her. She even began to feel wary for how the Strauss siblings were.

Gazing up in the night sky, she wondered how long more she had until it was ready for her to go home. What would she do then? There weren't that many other things she felt was waiting for her when she was going to go back. There were no friends of hers waiting or looking out for her, no family. The only one there was the 'King' and she felt he was just obligated to do that to sustain order and keep things as civil as possible. He was just like these people, though, it was no surprise as he spent most of his life with these people.

Dismissing it immediately, she grew frustrated and rose up from her spot, grabbing the spear and made her way, advancing towards the dragonslayer on the opposite side. The flames and grunts got hotter and brighter as she advanced until, "Dragneel!" calling out to him, abruptly stopping his training. He was in the middle of concentrating his flames, mixing it with his strikes as if he was trying to maximize its potency. Finally having his attention, she made a declaration, "Fight me... If you win, I'll join yours and Scarlet's silly little gang until I leave, I win,… you and Scarlet will leave me alone until the three months are over…"

"Eh...?" a little confused he looked at her, "I thought you wanted to train by yourself" smiling, lightly irritating her at the same time, "What made you change your mind?" curious, commenting that she had decided to willingly join Fairy Tail if she had lost.

There wasn't much she could say, because she herself didn't know. All she did, was that she was annoyed and frustrated and all of this happened was because of him and that scarlet knight. Gripping her Ten Commandments, she was shaking. This man was the source of all that was bothering her, him and that knight slumbering away in the house next to them. Convinced and filled with the belief that there was 'something' bothering her that made her go out of their way to give her false ideals. To believe that love led to kindness, and as such, was a source of power. She is Erza Knightwalker, and she was determined to keep what's her, her own self. A lone. Cold. Hunter.

* * *

 **A/N: And DONE :D Chapter 3 is done~ :D How did you guys think of this chapter? (Darky tried their hardest) Also! What about the new format? *It's terrible) ;w; I decided to put the chapter title up before the actually story because I think it makes the format look prettier. But yeah WOW. This was my first time experimenting with 'passage' of time in a single chapter. Before I had usually done them in between chapters but because this is strictly a 4 or 5 chaptered tale, i didn't want to just ehh... that. I was kind of unsure how to go about, I mean i had SO many different things planned for this that I wound up going with this direction. At this point maybe around a month and a half has passed by the way. ALSO FT has ended, and so far people are annoyed with how it ended ;w; so much anger for silly stuff ._. anyways I hope you enjoyed this! Boiling Water will be up soon! :D Lemme know your thoughts and suggestions~ :heart: :heart: :heart:**


	4. Countdown

**(A/N: Disclaimer - Contains foul language and light violence (Not entirely bad, but Darky felt compelled to warn his precious readers :heart) shush ;w;. Also any thoughts are 'hopefully' answered at the end. It's also long... well longer than I normally write. Sorry!)**

 **Chapter 4: Countdown**

* * *

The night was dark and lightly chill as the wind brushed around the forest, as only the moon by the bits of clouds served as the light for the duel between the two. It was a sudden request that Erza Knightwalker had declared upon the dragon slayer during the midst of his training, but she had waited far too long to settle this and put it all behind. Annoyed. Frustrated. Everything inside her mind was colliding with another as she tried to rid herself of the thoughts that Scarlet had been telling her for the past while. Their actions. It bothered her so much that for people that were either below or above her, they treated her as if they were equals. Friends. Lovers. Family. Knowing the term enough was only thing she could describe as 'weaknesses', something that could hold her back and prevent her from pushing through her goal. Strength. Power. Hostility. Those were the words she knew the most, and were the ones she lived by her entire life. What bothered her the most, though, was that she had allowed the words of what she deemed, ignorant people, to idly mess with what she had believed for so long. She was angry with Scarlet. with Dragneel. And most of all. Herself.

Facing the young man, she gripped the magic weapon in her hands as firm as she could, trying to erase the storm within her that was building and going out of control. The images of the young couple that burned in her mind was beginning to irritate her as she listened to the words in her head that they had spoke to her. Love wasn't a source of power, it was only an emotion that holds being back and keeps them captive from doing what they can accomplish. The Titania had spoke so highly about it, the way she pushed it in her face only made it worse. She could never accept that ideal, that the bonds you have for another is the only way to keep going forward. Power could only be obtained by fighting for it, taking it and making it yours. In her case, the power she has is the _only_ real power that could exist. That was what she needed to confirm for herself.

"Dragneel!..." declaring out to him, pointing the tip of her Ten Commandments towards him, "I challenge you to a fight" calling out to him, "Last one standing wins. If I win,... you and that woman will leave me in peace until it is time for me to leave" she stated, "If you win,... I'll join that stupid gang of yours and 'cooperate' just until I have to leave. What do you say?" asking him. She wanted to hear his answer. The stakes she had placed was what she 'deemed' to be fair and equal.

However, the fire mage yawned a little and had simply just stretched as if he was already exhausted, "Eh... well..." she wasn't sure what to make of this, looking at his lightly 'dulled' and uninterested look. "Sure, I'll fight you no problems" smiling large and bright, "But how about this instead. We use the same rules for the mock battle that Erza and I usually use" suggesting instead, scratching the back of his head, "Making you join just 'cause of one fight doesn't really seem so fair... but hey, that'll mean you'll have to do whatever I want right?" suddenly his determination was fired up.

"..." stunned, she wasn't sure what to make of the changed demands. Sure, there was no real difference, as she could just use her 'win' to request that they'd leave her alone. Even it would 'technically' only pertain to Dragneel, there was no doubt that he would honor her 'winning' wish and tell Scarlet that they had to leave her alone. Though, she wasn't sure what the dragon slayer was going to have in mind if he would win. Considering that his winning streak was currently at zero, there was a fair chance that he was going to have her do something stupid. Either way, this was the only way she could get the young man to agree to her fight, "Sure... fine. Whatever".

Agreeing to the terms, the two of them got ready as they partook into their 'mock battle'. Tensing, she watched as flares erupted from his body as he readied himself for a match, though he was oddly excited despite the consequences of the match. It would have been a mistake to let him advance before her, because she had known from the many kind of battles he had against the Titania that once he got started, there wouldn't be a moments rest, and without fire resistant gear like Scarlet had, there was no chance that she could survive a close onslaught of attacks. To assure that she would win, there was only one way she could make sure, and that was to rush at him with all she had. Her spear in her hands, she bolted towards him, readying to sever the 'false' ideals that were given to her.

Leaping into the air, she dropped right down at him, bringing the four jagged point of her spear at him, using it as an opportunity to see how he'd move and react. Watching, he had waited till the last moment to fall back, flipping out of the way as she crashed into the ground. Picking up the pace, she pulled the spear out the around and swung around, hoping to catch him off guard only for him to push against the force, and retaliate with kick all in the same motion, prompting her to fall back. She was lucky as the flares from his kick had just barely grazed her slightly. Containing her self, she changed it around as she began to lunge at him, thrusting it as hard as she could while she watched the dragon slayer fall to the side, his long sleeved top getting lightly cut from the jagged prongs of the blade. It was then she realized that she had him on the ropes, but she couldn't let up. Taking advantage, she impaled the spear into the ground and launched herself into a kick, knocking him back.

"Whew... you're really bringing it on" smiling a little maliciously as his feet slowed him to a stop, "Never fought against someone with a spear, but this is kind of fun..." he was enjoying this, even if he had no plan to win. There wasn't much he could use anyways, as she had only fought Scarlet once since she's been here, and that was the first night to their 'arrangement'. "If I'm really going to take you down... I got to turn up the firepower!"

However, she was already back on the assault as she continued to slash at him, fluidly moving alongside her weapon as she tried to take him down. She was furious at how nimble he was. Then again, she had to expect this after seeing him go up against the Titania in their mock fights. If she wanted to win, she need a careful plan, as she couldn't just rely on _all_ of her weapon's abilities. He was a fire dragon, and she knew that for a fact if she used anything like 'Magic Cannon', 'Explosion', or 'Blue Crimson', he was either immune to its fire properties or it wouldn't have much an affect. The worst case scenario it would work in his favor. Besides, this wasn't meant to be a fight to the death, but a simple fight.

"Mel Force!" Needing to catch him off guard, her spear changed just as she was striking him. The Four jagged prongs were replaced with a wide spearhead with the edges on the side curving inwards close to where the spearhead is mounted. With her next lunge, the spearhead began to glow just before a power vortex of wind shot out at him, sending him back from the pressure of the winds. "Concentrate" thinking to herself as she forcefully maintained the pressure, just before increasing it.

Gritting his teeth, he fought against the blast of wind as he "Fire Dragon's Claw!" igniting his feet on fire, he jammed it into the ground to help beat the crushing wind she was expelling at him. It was tough, trying to battle against the immense pressure she was dealing at him. He couldn't hold it for long, considering as he recalled his 'one time experience' with a magic weapon, he remembered that all of them had an expiration based on how much Magic it had been used and what was left. Since she was in a 'magic rich' world there was likely no limit to how much she could use it. Thinking quickly, "Fire dragon's roar!" unleashing a violent bellow of flames at her.

"...!" seeing the flames aiming right at her, she had let go of her attack and jumped to the side, just barely getting touched by the flames. "Damn it" watching as he was freed, she had tried once more "Mel Force!" shooting another wave of wind at him, however, this time he caught onto it and made leaps just enough to avoid getting caught back in it. Even if he had, there was a chance that he'd just do the same thing.

Finding a moment between leaps, he followed up with a variation roar "Fire Dragon's Meteor shower!" gathering an even larger amount of magic he unleashed a much larger volley of flames, only this time they were launched at her like decently sized balls of flames rushing right at her. For a moment, she had assumed that the volley of flames were intended as a 'scatter shot' only she was wrong as the realized that they all came rushing in at her.

"... This isn't enough!" she didn't want to give in, even after seeing the kind of magic he had been showing her during this fight. "Rune Save!" whisking the spear, it tip changed once more, this time into a blade of pure energy.

As the volley flames homed in at her she cut the ones aimed straight at her, easily cleaving through it as she dodged the impacts from the others by running. Waiting it out, she cleaved and jumped out of the way of the homing in strikes, awaiting for it to end. It was pathetic, at least that was what she thought. Watching, among the storm of fire raining down on her her eyes opened as another 'roar' had appeared, designed to have connected as she was preoccupied with the current assault. This was disappointing. As she swerved in front of the incoming magical blast she stabbed right into it with her Ten Commandments: Rune Save, and easily watched as the torrent of flames lightly just singe the sides of her gauntlets as it past through.

"Is this all you have, Dragneel?!" shouting out at him. For the lover of the 'mighty' Titania, she was let down that he had such poor planning. "If you can't do anymore than this, yo-" however, she was caught off guard as she watched him pop out of the flames that were directed at her.

His hands engulfed and burning with flames, he jabbed her once, feeling the burning sensation of the flames as he punched her. It wasn't entirely hard, but it was enough force to knock her back slightly, "Fire Dragon's Flaming Iron Fist: Piercing Claw Rev.!" the fiery flames in his other greatly expanded, and in a second, rapidly condensed and engulfed his entire arm as a stream of flames immensely propelled his strike forward, knocking her back with tremendous force, burning her as well. Finding himself a little worn, he had already used two magic spells he hadn't yet perfected, but considering his opponent was once on par with his girlfriend, and she had been doing a lot of physical training, there was no way he could hold back if he was going to win. "Is this... all you got?" watching as she took a small moment to recover from his last assault, "Come at me, I'm just getting fired up" beckoning her, he raised his hands as flames manifested the words 'Come on'.

" _Damn him..._ " cursing at him within her own thoughts, she ignoring the light burns and the impact she had received. "I'm going to..." her anger was already getting the best of her as she took his 'beckoning' as a form of belittle and mockery. "Calm down, Erza" thinking to herself, " _He's getting tired. Using that much magic has probably worn him out just a little_ " taking note of his breathing, " _For a brawler like him he relies mostly on using magic to greatly amplify his physical abilities, which means I just need to avoid and wear him out as much as possible till he falls... then I'll have won and finally be rid of this infernal couple_ ". She was beginning to get desperate. He was never this fierce when he fought the Titania during their mock battles and that threw her off. "All or none... I'm going to cut you up, Dragneel..." Getting up, she changed her blade once more, "Silfarion!" Once more, the spear tip changed, this time into a large silver arrow-head tip with a yellow swirl just before the blade.

She was going to cut him to pieces, it was the last measure she could think of without trying to actually kill him. Rushing at him with a gust of wind, she began to blind speed around him constantly, creating a light twister in the making. Even though the blade had no other special properties, other than just being a regular point, the speed it granted her was more than needed. Watching, she felt a glory as she confused the dragon slayer, destroying his senses as he primarily used his sight to determine her moves. For safe measures, she picked up the speed, further increasing the lil twister that was already forming. This was her chance. While he was confused and looking around for her presence she struck, cutting through his flesh just enough as she darted from one side of the twister to the other. The sight of blood thrilled her. Again, and again she was increased her speed, cutting through him as much as she could, there was no way she was going to win this.

He was frustrated. Every moment she struck she picked up her pace as she continued to strike him all over. It was much like his fight with Jellal back in the Tower of Heaven. Closing his eyes he bit down ignoring all the attempts she was making to wear him down physically. However, the fact he spent a lot of magic as it was training beforehand, he couldn't afford any screw ups. There was a limit, so as he focused, he relied on trying to sense her presence, but the rushing of her steps had clearly diminished his ability to try and predict through normal means. Her scent was all over as well. Either way, he needed to come up with a plan and fast before he would fall from all the cuts all over his body.

"She's too fast..." he thought to himself as he tried to guess her position. Stumbling, he stood his ground as he took hits from all over, "She's going to be so pissed with me though..." he was guessing. If standing still allowed her to attack him while safely avoiding any lethal damage, he needed to take it to an extreme. She wasn't so careless to follow a precise pattern, he had to figure since she was once Scarlet's match, though a simple misstep would also mean either, "Think HARDER" shouting internally at himself, forcing himself to change and grow, "Just once..." she was cutting him up, however, there was one thing he noticed. The movement of the wind was following the _same_ direction. Meaning even if she was rushing around, striking, she had to keep up the same flow in order to mask her presence as perfect as it was. "Now!" thinking, feeling one part of his body cut, he immediately spun and swung his leg, "Fire Dragon's Flaming Claw!" another revision, he swung a half-spun hook kick and knocked Knightwalker out of her 'twister' and flat onto the ground.

Breathing heavy, the two of them were nearing their limit. Her having taken severe blows enhanced with his magic, and him being cut and sliced all over his body. Unfortunately, neither of them were ready to give in. This fight had started as a mock battle, but now it became a battle to the death. He could see it in her eyes as she forced herself back up. Even though he had 'become the last one standing' she wasn't ready to give in. There was a burning anger behind her eyes, with every breath she took. Her desperation was beginning to show. The anger she had been trying to subside for so long was breaching her ability to contain it. Trembling, it was like the storm inside her was unable to subside, and now it was going to be unleashed.

"Damn it... Damn..." muttering under her breath, though with his enhanced hearing he could easily pick it up, "DAMN YOU BOTH!" Enraged, she gripped the magic weapon in her hand as she jumped at him, "Eisenmeteor!" suddenly, she shouted out a form she never thought had existed until now. The entire weapon began to glow as the point changed into a singular thick piece of blade on both ends. Thrusting it at him, this was now the intent to kill, "Damn you... Dragneel!" slashing, she just managing to cut him from his slow movements after cutting it, "I'm sick of this! of you, of Scarlet!" seething, even as he caught the spear just before the blade she kicked him with all her force, "Stop with this bullcrap! and stay down!" Jumping at him with the intent to impale, he rolled to dodge, and swerved, sweep kicking her, well, attempting to.

Getting angry, he forced himself to keep dodging her swipes even if he was failing and she was cutting cutting him, "What's your problem?!" grabbing it, he blocked a punch and forced the two in a stalemate as the two tried to overpower another.

"YOU are my problem! That woman in the house! is my problem!" yelling at him, "I'm sick of your lovers crap! Love isn't powerful! Stop trying to enforce this whole belief at me and stay down!" shouting at him. "I was once part of the greatest military in all Edolas! I was their captain! No one rivaled me, and everyone feared me because I had POWER!" telling him, "REAL power is having the strength to mow down your enemies! Crush those that are weak! Scarlet was STRONG, not this bull crap she said about your 'love of people' making you strong! EFFORT is what makes someone strong, and you're a mockery to all those that poured their blood, sweat, and tears!"

Smashing his forehead into her face, drawing blood on both of them he slammed his fist into her, "I've paid my dues!" yelling at her, catching his breath. "I've spent days... busting my ass to get where I am!" telling her, "But that's only because I have to! To protect those I care about!"

"Shut up!" throwing her spear at him, she had just nicked across his face. "You have no idea how much I had to suffer!" rising up she resorted to physically punching with all her might. "I had Power! I had Magic! For once is my miserable life, I was happy! and then you and that damned king come and ruin it!" even as he deflected her punches, some of them, she had followed through by slugging him somewhere else as he would return the favor. "And then... I find myself here..." catching her breath, she had spent a lot of her strength physically beating him, "Just to find out... I was wrong... that my entire life... everything that made _me_ happy was a lie. Everything! Magic. Power. The only thing I ever knew and then I watched as you two... weak people who don't care about strength, happy because you have 'love'... such disgusting feeling... so I trained... I wanted to crush you both! Crushing you meant I was right! Love isn't power, it's an emotion that makes you weak!" Resuming she struck him once more.

Feeling the weight of her fist sent him back. Tightening his fist, he slugged her right back, knocking her to the ground "Love... doesn't make... you weak" telling her, trying to catch his breath, "Yeah... Love _can_ be powerful... People who love others... are spurred to get stronger because _they have to_..." catching his breath, they were both battered, "All those fights... I thought I wasn't going to make it... because I took for granted thinking _it'd never happen_...that jerk Jellal... Laxus... If love COULD give you so much power... I'd have killed that bastard back at the tower... Erza wouldn't have had to cry so much... I wouldn't have to kill myself trying to get stronger faster... Love only gets you so far... Knightwalker".

Both of them were worn out, breathing hard and rough as they tried to ignore the blistering pain they inflicted on another. Still, she forced herself to stand up, even if it physically was painful to stand up. She could see that he was suffering the same, more or less he was as beaten as she was, but perhaps it was his anger that kept him standing, as much as it was keeping her up. Though it was dwindling, she could still feel it, and while the two were at this now, she had the chance to beat him senseless until one of them manage to collapse. There was no doubt she was going to make sure it was Dragneel that fell. That way she could be at peace.

"Still... it pisses me off so much... watching you two" saying, heaving as her breath was thinning. Parts of her were bruised or battered badly, but she couldn't tell right now, "It's like looking at myself. A damned reminder that Scarlet is _everything_ I could never be" breathing hard and rough, "She has no sadness... no pain... it's a perfect reminder of how much of my life was damned from the start. I had no one, friends. family. All of it was taken from me from the very start. Power and superiority was what I took... and you guys took that from me too..."

Inching forward, he dropped a hand on her shoulder, "All... most of our lives... were damned,..." telling her, "Fairy Tail... is a place where those broken... can feel at ease... I had no family... the only thing I had close to family was a Dragon and he just up and left me... Erza... well... it's not my story to tell..." tensing his grip on her shoulder with what strength he had left, "You're right... you and Erza look a like... sound the same... but there's a difference..."

Annoyed, she gripped onto his wrist and pried it off of her, but as she did he punched her once more. Then the two of them continued throwing punches at another, using what little strength they had to beat each other down. Blood fell everyone, their bodies got battered, but they kept at it, even if they'd stumble or slump, the two of them were determined to see this through the end. It didn't matter anymore, who was right, who was wrong. They just wanted to beat each other down to settle for the original intention of the bet. The last one standing would be the winner, and they would ask _anything_ of the loser until said call was over. Eventually, their movements got slower, as did the strength behind her punches, but both of them were still willing to push as much as they could. That was, until with a final punch, the two of them knocked each other out and onto the ground. Signaling the end of the 'mock battle'.

-[x]-

The two of them lied there on the grassy ground as they tried to catch their breath. Both of them were bloodied, battered, brushed all over, and it was clear that neither of them could move an inch. Natsu, who had spent all of his magic earlier trying to make up for his lack of physical prowess was in slight more exhaustion, and Knightwalker, who was on the receiving end had appropriate burns all over her body. They weren't deadly, nor life threatening, but it was enough to leaving a lasting burning sensation where he struck her. There was no anger, no pain, just two people who had nothing left to throw at another completely spent on the ground. For Knightwalker, she didn't know what to think or believe anymore. What was the right path, what was the wrong way to live? The fight didn't give her a clear answer. She had hoped that in this fight she would get an answer, but after hearing the dragon slayer's response to what had conflicted her, she was convinced perhaps there was no right answer.

Out of breath, there wasn't a sign she could move any part of her body except for her mouth and breathe, though, she had to believe the pinkette was in the same shape. Adding onto the physical beatings she gave him, she had cut him nice, so if anything, there was a chance that he was a little out of it from all the blood he loss compared to her. It wasn't a lot, but even she felt it was enough to seriously catch back to him now that there was nothing fueling either of them.

Breathing rough, she tried her best to form words, "Dragneel... you still alive...?" calling out to him, "Why... do you try so hard... Scarlet is so strong... you're the one that obviously needs protecting... you should just be happy... and let her..."

"Shut... up" groaning just a little, "Of course I'm gonna... get much stronger than her... I love her... good enough reason..." smiling just thinking about it, "Plus... it pisses me off... that blueberry jerk makes her cry... next time I see him... I'm definitely going to kick his ass... before I set it on fire..."

The words he spoke slowly made a little more sense to her. Love and power are two different things. One could spur and motivate you, and the other you could obtain regardless. "Really... kick his ass?" questioning him, "...Please... you hit like a b... bitch..." mocking him, "I'm just tired... from beating you... like a doll" breathing a little more, "I feel bad... Scarlet has such a weakling... for a lover..."

"That's rich... coming from you..." smiling a little to himself, "I feel bad... Erza had trouble against you... your punches didn't...even tickle..." retaliating, "Happy hits harder than you... and he's... a tiny little cat... that flies".

Her breathing was getting a little better, "Don't make me... kick your ass,...Dragneel" attempting to make a threat.

"Try me... you can't even move..." trying to relax more, "I'm just... taking a quick rest..."

The way they were speaking oddly was perhaps the 'friendliest' they've had the entire time she was here. Most times she would be making sneer comments about their love or mocking something, but right now? It was perhaps the nicest conversation they had the entire month and a half she's been here.

"Tell me... Dragneel..." calling out to him once more, "Scarlet and I... you said we're different... how so?" she was curious, wondering what it was that made her different. "Apparently... we've both had crappy lives... stuck with a stubborn dragon... not many differences I can see".

Having enough energy, he looked up in her direction, "Well... for starters... she's far nicer to me..." smiling, pointing out the obvious difference, chuckling a little, even though it hurt like hell to do that.

"Cut the crap... Dragneel..." not taking kindly to his response, "Really... you said there's a difference... what is it?"

Thinking for a moment, he wasn't sure how to say, "Smell..." bluntly pointing it out, "You may look like her... sound like her... but you don't have her scent..." thinking, "Well... it's similar... but... different enough".

Hearing the answer he told her, she laughed. She didn't know why, but the thought that the main defining feature that separated her from her Earth Land counterpart was her scent. It was the one thing she didn't think about, however, it was so ridiculous she had honestly laughed. It wasn't loud, nor was it a lot, but it was the first time she felt that she, Erza Knightwalker had laughed. And soon after, he joined her, and the two of them continued despite the massive pain from their chest and body being battered. As the sun peaked over the ridge of the forest, and lit a path onto the them, the two of them continued to spend the rest of the dawn of a new day sharing in another's laughter and pain. It shocked her for a moment, upon coming to the realization, but perhaps, knowing there was no definite answer meant she was free to believe what she wanted. Maybe that's all she needed. Answers. Enough to find and formulate her own way. However, soon it was about to be over, as the two of them did not have any strength anymore to come to face was was heading their way.

-[x]-

Erza had found them, and while she was worried about what had happened between the two she called Gray and Lucy to come help take the two battered people in the house and clean their wounds. After bandaging the two of them, they were forced to rest on the beds inside while Erza tried to surmise what had happened. Knightwalker had wanted to come clean and say she challenged the pinkette to a fight that some how wound up to be a light 'fight to the death', but he had taken responsibility, saying that he dragged her out of bed to 'fight her'. It was obvious that he was lying to her, something that terrified him, but she felt she knew he only did it for her case as she had done for her as well. Luckily, some of the people who came by checked up on them to see how bad their wounds were, but as neither of them had any life threatening problems, it was easily assumed they could get by with rest. However, this soon faded as she eyed the dragon slayer in particular, who was a little nervous knowing the glare he was being given. Beads of sweat began to form, because there were multiple reasons he could come up with as to why she would be so angry with him.

Sitting down on the chair, her legs were crossed as she crossed her arm, darkening and glaring death at the pinkette who had no means to avoid her gaze. Looking beside her, just barely to avoid making eye-contact, she had noticed that Scarlet had taken her Ten Commandments, and probably didn't have any plans to give it back until some odd reason was made out. Either way, the two of them were bound and unable to really move until their body got better, so they had no other choice but to let the Titania 'scold them' for their actions.

"Natsu" calling out to him sternly, focusing her gaze at him, "Start talking" instructing him.

Smiling a little nervous, "Well... you look fairly beauti-" before he could finish she threw a pillow at him, and since his body was in dire pain anything was a weapon, "Geez, Erza! What the hell..." groaning out. "Seriously. I'm sorry okay! I didn't think we'd fight... that long".

"That's not the main reason" getting up, she stomped her way over to him, "'Fire Dragon's Meteor Shower'? 'Fire Dragon's Flaming Iron Fist: Piercing Claw Rev.'!?" leering closer in, "You haven't ONCE used those moves against me, so how am I JUST now hearing about this? And furthermore you're all cut up! You're lucky they weren't serious!"

His gaze fell half way as he realized THAT was what she was mad about, even if she had mentioned him being torn up here and there, the main issue seemed to have been his lack of 'fighting her full force'. "To be fair... I haven't really perfected it..." telling her bluntly, "And! Again, I was just in the middle of per- OW!" interrupting him, she had dropped a chop onto his head.

"You've been going easy on me, Natsu!" annoyed with him, "It's like you're not taking these mock battles seriously" scolding him for something that didn't seem like it was an issue baffled Knightwalker. To be quite honest, Scarlet had the hardest time sleeping since the two were fighting, but she was curious to see what was happening that she stood back, only firming to fall in if it she felt it was necessary. That meant she heard everything. "...I think you've had enough for now" relaxing just a little. After hearing all he had told Knightwalker, she couldn't necessarily stay mad at him. A part of her felt guilt that some of her own past issues was still haunting him, "Next time... I want you to hit me with **everything** you got" pressing her lips gently against his own, "...It's not fair that Knightwalker get's better treatment in that area... You're mine, don't forget that" reminding him. Though, it had dawned her just a little. Facing Knightwalker, "Sorry..." a little guilt, she forgot her counterpart was in the room.

Taken aback, just a little, "No... it's fine" telling her, "It...It's fine". It was slow, but, the Titania was the dragon slayers reason to get stronger. Even if it wasn't her own style. It was his, and she respected that. Before, she had felt a little off, thinking that she was being thrown in a weak loop of having to believe she _had_ to be like the Titania. Perhaps, there was no harm in having their own methods, "Scarlet..." calling out to her, "Before I leave... I'm going to beat you" passing a determined smile.

"I'll be waiting..." smiling back at her, "Both of you, rest" telling them, "I'll be out with Happy getting some things... and some food" requiping, she changed into her 'maid' outfit, "I'll be back to nurse the both of you back the health!" filled with vigor she sped off.

For a moment, seeing that, she began to regret and take back everything she had just told her. While she did like and respect both the Titania and the dragon slayer for having their own reasons and meaning to find strength, perhaps she was a little too hasty in thinking that there were more similarities between the two. One, for instance, the most important difference, was that she would **never** in her life be someone's maid. Feeling a little nauseous, she sunk into the bed and tried to erase that thought from her mind. Still. It had been a while since Knightwalker had received a beating like that. The last time she had was three...no, maybe almost five months now? It was her against her counter part, and she clashed with the same hopes of winning, only for it too end in a draw. Closing her eyes, she rested. She had less than two months here on Earth Land before she was be on her way home. Wondering, she hoped she could make the most out of it.

-[x]-

Roughly a week had passed since, and the two were forcibly bed ridden to account for all the damage they had done to another. While it wasn't too severe, there were still the matter of getting back to their full strength so the Titania would 'allow' either of to 'check out'. And for Knightwalker, it was almost a close personal hell. She had, more or less, gotten over and 'used' with the fact her look-alike was being romantic here and there with the dragon slayer, however, it was the matter she would wear strange, and often times, down right ridiculous outfits to account to them. At times she was dressed up as a maid while she 'cleaned' and 'cooked', and she used those terms loosely because she quickly realized from day one the true fear of the scarlet knight was her inability to actually cook. How she and Dragneel survived she had yet to figure out. And other times she would 'play' nurse, again, replacing the love they displayed for another as it being the real sickening display. Over the course of the long days, they would talk, tell stories either about all the things that would happen in the guild, or things her and the pinkette had done, most notably her 'absence' when he'd face off in S-Class missions just to take down his progress, and Knightwalker, not having many, would just tell them how Edolas had been since they had left.

Stretching, she loosened her arms a little as she finally felt the fresh air upon her being. It felt nice being out of the bed for once for the past time she was stuck recovering from the beatings she and Dragneel gave each other. There were still a light lingering burn that she felt, but considering how far less it was from the time he gave it to her, she had no doubt that it would fade within a day or two's time. The stake of the matter now, was pushing herself to follow through with her declaration, no. If there was anything she learned, it was that she still had a ways to go. Her feeling and need for power was for her own sense of desire.

"Finalllyyy!" excited, the dragon slayer rushed passed her with a happy expression on his face. He had changed into another raised collar shirt with long sleeves, "Back in action!" stretching, she watched as he was ready to prepare himself, "It's been a week since I've been on a job... time to g-"

Before he could finish, she cut him off, "Dragneel!" calling out to him, forcing him to stop in his tracks to face her. There was an awkward pause between the two, and before he assumed she wanted to fight him again, or worse 'apologize', "You're pathetic" bluntly telling him, "How can you expect to 'protect' Scarlet when you can't even beat me?" crossing her arms, she faced him.

"Oi... you wanna go at it again?" feeling antsy he emitted flares as he cracked a grin at her as he narrowed his gaze, "I'll beat you 5x times till next week. I got your moves down to a point...".

That fiery spirit of his probably sparked something in her. Whether it was bad or good, she was going to challenge it to the end. "With the weak 'training' you do, I'll easily crush you in a heartbeat, then I'm gunning for Scarlet" playing him, "And besides... you've yet to see all which my magic weapon can do" goading him, "Though,... if you're as strong as you say you are, saying all that 'nonsense' about love motivating you, let's see if you can handle **my** training and see whose ideals truly is superior".

"Oh... you're so on" pounding his fist against his open palm, "I'll take on anything you throw at me".

Smiling, "Trust me... I'm going to put you through hell" warning him with a smirk.

She was going to enjoy this, putting the dragon slayer through near hellish training just for the sake of challenging his ideals and seeing how far he's willing to go to prove his words. There wasn't a part of her that believed Scarlet's nonsense about love being an ultimate power or strength, but she was intrigued by his eagerness to go through anything if it meant getting power. However, perhaps that was the real reason she, on a whim, decided to do this. The both of them had a strong burning desire for power and strength, that they would be willing to pursue to the ends of the world for. For her, it was the sense of superiority, joy, to easily crush those below her, and for him, to protect the scarlet-haired woman he loved. His friends, and his family.

"Natsu!" calling out, disturbing their conversation was the scarlet knight, "Are you ready?" asking, she had popped out of the house, wearing her usual casual attire, "We need to hurry up and pick out a job to make up for the lost time...thanks to your little 'mishap'" reminding him, "I want to renovate this place as soon as possible... it's getting a little tiresome moving back and forth".

Caught between 'hellish training' or 'job' he was stuck as both of them intrigued him. However, as excited as he was, he couldn't necessarily just turn down the Titania, if anything since it was his fault they were set back, even just a bit. "Sorry, Edolas Erza" his expression dying just a little, "Can we hold back on the 'death' training? 'least till we get back from the job" smiling a little sheepish, she scratched the back of his head.

"...Edolas Erza?" a little dulled by his choice in naming, she wondered why didn't he just call her 'Edo Erza' as it seemed less to say. For now she discarded it, "It's fine" telling him, "When you're back though, I'll run you through hell".

Lightly clinging to his arm, Erza didn't like how 'friendly' they were. Well, she liked the fact they were on better terms, but still, she had to make a stand somewhere. Still, it was her doppel, almost like a twin, so she couldn't necessarily be too upset about it, "How about you come along, Knightwalker?" suggesting, "The job would get done faster... and you can run Natsu through your 'hell'".

"..." thinking it over, while she didn't care much for what the two of them did, she had very much wanted to see the pinkette suffer under her training, if anything to determine how strong his motivation was. Still, it would probably mean that they would go to the Guild, and she would have to see those people. "...Fine" managing, "Don't take this in any way that I'm joining though,... I really just want to see your lover suffer, Scarlet" feeling the need to point that out.

Smiling a little in relief, she was at least happy things were turning out a little better. It was a light shame that they couldn't have had more of this, but perhaps Knightwalker had had her reasons for being how she was. Either way, she was just glad things were going to be fairly better as they were running in their last month. She had held onto Knightwalker's 'Ten Commandments' as a light punishment for nearly wrecking the place during their mock training, and perhaps as a little spite for seemingly intentionally injuring her dragon, but she'd give it back once the Fairy Hunter request it. Until then, she kept it in her spatial storage for easy access. As of the moment, it seemed that she wasn't that concerned as they were bed ridden for quite a while, and seeing as they were going to head back to the Guild to pick out a job, it would be easier for the Edolas wanderer to travel without needing to carry it out in the open and perhaps being 'disarmed' would prove easier relations with the guild. Though she had Gray and Lucy keep the fact she and Natsu had a 'rough' match a secret just as she felt it would be unnecessary hate, though, people could probably relate considering their residential dragon slayer had a knack for riling people up.

-[x]-

The walk to the Fairy Tail guild was far longer than she remembered, then again, there were only a couple times she had bothered to have walked this far. Recalling, the first time was when Scarlet and Dragneel took her here after they had ran into her when a client had mistaken her for 'Erza Scarlet' and they needed to get away from the Magic Council for the moment after she tore down one of their Dark Guilds. After that it was when Dragneel had tore her away from the place when a riot was breaking out over the revelation that she had personally cut down members of their guilds back in Edolas. Since then, she had stuck only to the house, and the few occasions she was dragged out to the city for leisure and relaxation, so, being back in front of the guild stirred an uncomfortable feeling inside her. Was another fight going to drag back out? She didn't know, but at the same time she was going to be ready this time to at least bolt if things got ugly. There was only just over a month left before she had to leave, she'd rather not have to spend it dealing with pointless things.

However, as they made their way into the guild, there was a strange sense of atmosphere going around, much different than she had remembered and what she had expected. Everyone was laughing, having fun as they drank and ate with another. Walking alongside the pair, she wondered what had happened, as surely they would have noticed her presence by now, there were far too many people for no one to NOT notice. Even less, she was disarmed, if anything, this was the right opportunity to strike her.

"Oi, Flamebrain!" calling, she watched a man in boxers and dark hair notice the fire dragon's appearance, "Got out of bed already?!" for some reason, her expression dulled in light shock as people were fine with this young man running around in public in his briefs, "I'll definitely send you back!" raring at him.

Twitching, "Bring it snow flake!" riling up, the dragon slayer jumped in and struck the ice mage as the two got into a scuffle, not too long after, Scarlet yanked him away by the scarf, "Hey! at least don't drag me by the scarf!"

"You're getting distracted" scolding him, "Besides we didn't come here to fight".

Another voice popped out, "Salamander!" this time it was a feral almost like man with long wild dark hair, "Stay right there!"

"Natsu is busy!" angered the Titania let go of her beloved and slammed her fist into the iron dragon slayer, into one of the tables, regardless if there were people sitting already "Save it for when we're done with work!" demanding.

Standing there she wasn't sure what to make what was going on. They were 'fighting' but for the most part they seemed completely relaxed about everything, as if all this violence and fighting was normal for them. She had recognized the man as 'Redfox', one of 'Demon Lord Dragneel's underlings' back when they wrecked Edolas to make Prince Jellal a hero. It was a popular tale that people had turned into stories, if anything, it was known as the 'birth story of the New Edolas'.

"S-Sorry" catching her attention, was a young girl with long blue hair, alongside Happy and another white Exceed, "Miss Edolas Erza" calling out to her a little probably terrified and shy, "Can I get you anything?"

Hesitant, she simply answered, "N-No... I'm fine" telling her, "I'm just waiting for Dragneel and Scarlet to get a job..." telling her.

However, amidst the 'friendly' brawl that was starting, everyone stopped as Levy came rushing in with a light terrified look on her face. "You guys...! There's... uh... a problem" out of breath, there was a light sense of dread of worry.

As everyone stared in her direction, she noticed that the young book mage was once again covered on soot, however, it didn't seem as bad as it was the last time. Her breath was ragged, but however, the biggest news was what was going to happen next. Following just after Levy was a similar looking girl. No, it was ANOTHER Levy that had made her way out of the request of the soot covered one. However, this one was just slightly different. There was a deep scar across her cheek, her eyes were darkened and ragged from what looked like many nights without sleep and stress. Strapped across her back was a strange contraption, almost like some of the that Bisca and Alzack used, only more advanced it seemed. It was smaller, but built a bit thicker with a lightly long thin muzzle. A little dazed, she herself didn't know where she was, but as she stumbled in the guild she took a light look around like she knew of these people, but in particular she looked at the team of Shadow Gear standing in shock to see two Levy's.

"Jet... Droy..." tearing up, she rushed over to the two of them and held them tightly. For someone so tiny, especially Levy, they hadn't expected to see the book-mage's doppel being able to tightly hug the two. She was quivering, shaking a little as she clamped hard onto him, "You're... It's great to see you both again..."

It wasn't long until the odd-dopped of Levy burst into tears, squeezing the two of them as much as she could. Everyone was shocked and a little confused as to what had happened, but either way, 'the real' Levy had made her way to explain what had happened. Saying that while she had managed to make vast improvements using the book she was given, and her own faulty experiences, the repairing of the Interdimensional Viewing Device had gone better than she had assumed. She then began to talk about, after getting it working in better condition, she had been viewing 'other' worlds of theirs, and how many twists and turns things have been, and then went on to explain that 'this Levy' had appeared after a light glitch, causing her to be warped into 'their' world, just as much as when she was 'looking for Edolas'.

"So... is the IVD broken again...?" Scarlet asked, questioning the mage. She was concerned, probably because at this point they were going to be disappointing Knightwalker, to whom they've been promising she would be home in little over a months time right about now, "Because if this'll take another three..."

Shaking her head frantically, "No no no!" easily correcting her, "Just the opposite!...Kinda" she told her, "It's perfectly fine... just a light error, plus 'other Levy' says she has a working IVD at her home so with the two of us we can get it up and running perfectly within maybe a few days...or week" estimating. Turning to face the Edolas counterpart, "Isn't that great? You get to go home much sooner than we estimated!" smiling.

"I can... go home earlier?" replaying the words, she was taken by surprise, "That's..."

She wasn't sure what to say about that, the thought of being able to go home earlier than planned was in no way bad news, in fact it was great, better if she could place it. Though, as she looked at the excited look on everyone's faces, especially the ones on Scarlet and Dragneel, she couldn't help but find it a little difficult to express her joy. Instead of having to wait a full month for her to return home, she was given the news that it would take at the most, a week, something she could pass by easily. However, she felt that something was holding her back. Either way, her time spent with the two was coming to an end much faster than she had anticipated. Maybe, contemplating, things were finally starting to look up for her, but the more she lingered on the thought, she began to realize something. Tightening her fist, she followed through on the thoughts. It was only going to be a week she had left, and perhaps she was starting to feel,...

* * *

 **A/N: Uuughhhh... 8880 words... so much sht happened... Yeah... honestly. (Darky is death right now, give them some time to recover) like half of it was JUST the fight... and while I did have fun I STILL had stuff to do and whatnot. I was hoping that I cleared up some things, some people were thinking Natsu was gonna win... some thought Edo Erza was gonna win... honestly I wasn't sure. Edo Erza winning would have made things more dramatic and annoying for me to write, and Natsu winning would... well I couldn't necessarily believe he could straight up win with no problems. xD ONE MORE CHAPTER folks. What's gonna happen? Will Edo Erza finally get back home to Edolas? (Darky isn't sure whether to write the last chapter right now or wait 'cause they're a d-ck) xD. ALSO BEFORE I FORGET I NEEED TO CLARIFY THINGS. XD. -|| The Natsu in my story had been training since the Laxus arc ended (i'll explain more in Scarlet Dragon) so that scene isn't just some random stuff I came up with to counter Edo Erza's argument. While it's improper, I had intended this story to be a 'split' time frame that runs parallel to Scarlet Dragon, it's just I wound up writing this because I just felt driven to get this idea running because I compulsively create stories that may/may not coincide. And with the Laxus arc ending in ch. 5 well i'll get to that when I do || procellasdracon from Tumblr coined the term 'blueberry' for 'Jellal' || COG Levy is actually from a friend's (thehappy) fanfic called 'A Dragon of COG'. He is a great friend who has supported me in my NatZa and other stories and has helped me build up all these ideas and motivated me to keep going. If you read it, you'll understand why her reaction is the way it is. warning, its super gory, dark, and what not || Uhh... Natsu's moves are kind of what I thought were cool. Like Meteor Shower was like a storm of raining fire balls thats a Roar variation. The flaming Iron fist was combining 'flame elbow' and 'iron fist' and generally it acts as an amplifier, rapidly condensing to increase propulsion, strength, and massive force/piercing power. Flaming Claw is the same, only with 'Fire Dragon's Claw'. || Eisenmeteor was NEVER used by Knightwalker, and since she's in my story I thought i'd make it up for her Ten Commandments...I just like the Rave reference okay? ;w; ||- that should be it. Anywho, I'm sorry for all the cursing and bad language! and light violence, it's just im trying to mix up a little. but you'll see on a later note :heart: I love you all, I hope this was somewhat a decent chapter for you all and let me know your thoughts :heart: :heart: :heart:**


	5. Home

**A/N: Please read the author's note at the end! This is a LONG Chapter. Like... 30k words. I hope you enjoy it! Also! by "POV" I simply mean 'generally' as the events that occur is 'around' that central character whether it may be 2nd/3rd. Basically this it 'counting' down of the week left. ALSO. Contains 'light' crude language, suggestive themes, and violence. Not like super super, I've tamed it as much as I could. But more in my a/n. Much love :heart: Darky Dark~ edit: There's a new poll on my page (: who do you want to see?**

 **Final Chapter: Home**

* * *

 _ **~Erza Knightwalker's POV~**_

Everyone was in shock by the sudden arrival of a 'second Levy' and how she looked so war torn and outfitted as if her world was in some sort of crisis, and if that wasn't enough, the fact she had willing ran over to embrace the two, Jet and Droy, bursting into tears as if she had never seen them in a long time. However, there was another shocking revelation, that was excluded on the 'outcast' of Edolas. In just a weeks time, she was going to be able to definitely go home, and that was what she got from the confident look upon 'their' book mage, as she had stated that 'other Levy' has her own working IVD back at home. A week. Instead of waiting for just over a month, the Fairy Hunter was going to be able to go home and be back where she belonged. Though, the more she thought about it, she should be glad to hear that her time here was going to be cut short. Looking at the looks of Levy, Scarlet, Natsu, she should be able to be happy just like them. There was just something that bothered her that she wasn't able to put to words.

Things were as strange as they were, and while she had come to learn that 'strange' was usually something normal for these people, she wasn't entirely sure what to make of the situation. What intrigued her a little, was the war-torn Levy and her action. Since the moment she clutched to the two from Shadow Gear, she hadn't stopped crying, it was as if for a long while she had been holding it all in and there was no point she had to release all the emotions she had. Whatever had happened, she was sure that one way or another she was going to let everyone all in, as she was probably going to be stuck here for a week until the Interdimensional Viewing Device was up and running.

"O-Oi..." the first to make a sound was Redfox, as he approached the 'other' Levy, "Are you really _that_ excited to see them?" questioning in an off tone, "Aren't you usually annoyed by how they creepily stal-"

However, before he was able to finish his sentence the 'other' Levy had suddenly snapped at the words, releasing her hold on the two before decking the Iron dragon slayer in the chest, sending him flying through the wall. Some swore that they heard a light 'crack' upon impact, but whether or not that was true had yet to be determined, "Don't... ever..." sniffling just a little, she glared her eyes lightly at Redfox's direction, "Jet... and Droy..." stifling a little, "Where I'm from... they're dead".

"Ehhh...?!" the exceed was the first to react, "Super Levy just knocked out Gajeel!" completely ignoring the whole 'death' thing.

Surprised, it was then Lucy had interjected, "Don't just ignore the important bits you flying cat!"

The words she spoke drew a light shock across the room, adding to the already shock that someone as tiny as Levy was able to knock out someone as big and strong as Gajeel with a single hit. This didn't quite shock the scarlet hunter, as in her experience, she was fairly used to the concept of death, and it especially helped that there was really no one she had considered important enough to call either 'friend' or ally'. Though she couldn't deny she was at least a little intrigued about what was going on.

"Jet and Droy... are dead?" asking them was the blonde celestial mage, "What... kind of world did you come from... uh..." she wasn't sure what to call her as it was already difficult with Erza's own Edolas counterpart, "I'm sorry... is there something we can..."

Rubbing the tears off, she felt a little better having gotten all of it out of her system, "I'm sorry, you can call me McGarden" 'other' Levy had said, "It'll be easier to differentiate if you're referring to me or the Levy of this world" putting up a soft smile, "But..." her expression fell, "To answer your question. Yes. Jet, Droy, Laki, Bickslow, and some others are dead... at least in my world..." falling a little short, she was comforted by her counterpart, "You see... it all started when the 'Natsu Dragneel' of our world disappeared five years ago..."

It was then McGarden, began to talk and tell about the world she lived in, and how their own Natsu Dragneel had disappeared in a odd glow of light, to which they later found to be was a portal to another dimension. From there she continued to talk about how for a while they were tracking to see where they could find him, and that was when she had first 'fixed' the Interdimensional Viewing Device after five years had past, and was able to locate him in a universe called 'Sera' where Natsu was then known as 'Corporal Dragneel' and was leading a fight against a power sort of enemy called the 'Locust'. Eventually they started appearing around Magnolia as well, first starting in the guild where they first encountered it. They survived the first sudden attack against the enemy, but as time went on, more came, and that was when the first deaths had occurred, Jet and Droy. From there on was the beginning of their tragedy, and that once she had gotten the IVD working perfectly and was able to transport her long lost friend, alongside the friends he had made there, back to where he belonged, back in Magnolia. However, that was when the tragedy sunk further, and was the starting downfall of several more of their precious friends.

Everyone in the guild was looking pale as can be after hearing the blood-filled tale of McGarden and the world she had lived in, especially the ones she had mentioned are already dead. It certainly didn't help that she had Lacrima footage of some of the things she recorded from when the people in her world watched through their own device. Some of them were angry, having to hear that somewhere out there another 'Fairy Tail' was suffering and they were here unable to do anything about it. Most notably, was the dragon slayer that was trying to contain himself as best as he could. The scarlet knight beside him was no different. Both of them were lightly annoyed, and steaming that there was nothing they could have done. She didn't understand still, how they could feel so much anger for something that hadn't involved any of them directly. It was a lot like when she was outed as 'the one who killed people from Edo Fairy Tail'.

"Enough stories though..." she said with a smile, "Since I'm here, I probably should help you guys working on your own IVD so that I can go back home..." saying with a low voice, "I can manage to stay away since Corporal Dragneel should be able to handle things enough without needing me to worry" it was then she had noticed Knightwalker, "Wait... two Erza's?" taken by surprise, "I mean... I see..." she was able to figure that perhaps this was only the _second_ time Levy's IVD malfunctioned, "I see why now that Levy has been working on the IVD" figuring that something similar likely had happened, "I'm surprised though... Mira and Juvia have it hard enough with ONE Erza..." turning to face the fire dragon slayer, "How do you manage to get all four of them to agree to her?" curious.

However, at that moment everyone in the guild paused and tried to process what McGarden had just said, especially the one in question, who had a dulled confused expression on his face. "Umm... McGarden?" it was the white-haired eldest Strauss sibling who questioned, "...What do you mean Juvia and I have a hard time with one Erza?"

"Ehh!?" a little shocked, she jumped back a little, "You mean to tell me you and Juvia aren't dating him too?!" this put her in a slight awkward position as she felt like she started something she didn't mean. "I mean... Dragneel DID tell me the other Natsu, the one he met in Universe 200-AB, hasn't dated either of them either but..." pondering, things only got more confusing for everyone, well aside from a select few. Juvia was devastated to learn that there was a version of her that didn't fall in love with her precious beloved Gray, though darting an eye to the celestial mage and ice, she had inkling the blonde had something to do with it. And well, Natsu had a feeling he was about to receive a death sentence from the scarlet knight that was just beside him. "W-Well... that's not important right now" smiling a little nervous, scratching the back of her head, "I'm gonna go help Levy work on the IVD... and uh... just forget I said anything" a little guilty she outright said that without considering the possibilities.

Just as she was about to leave, the eldest take-over mage had stopped her, "Wait wait!" desperately clinging onto her, "I need to knowwwww. What happens to me and Natsu in your world?" asking, almost pleading.

"..." realizing there was no escaping the death grip of the demon, she sighed before giving in, "Well... it's a little complicated, but you all live together, You, Erza, Juvia, and this woman named Sam... and well... kind of openly expressive in your love" mulling over the thought, "I use that term fairly lightly mind you..."

Laughing, the drunk was at the bar laughing at the news, "Wow... I'm really glad to be awake for this" she laughed, reveling in the misfortune the pinkette was going to be in.

"Wait... I remember one more thing..." saying as she devilishly smiled toward the card mage, "The Cana in my world... well... I hear her make strange noises while saying his name. That she plans to 'steal' him away from the scarlet knight and the demon when their backs are turned" this sent a little fear down the brunette's spine, as well as a light flush, "Welp! Time to go work on that IVD... come on Levy!" nervous, she quickly dragged her counterpart away, a little terrified she may have started a little blood feud.

Almost on cue, the white-haired beauty had rose and faced the the alcoholic at the bar. She wasn't angry or looking as if she was going to murder her for what McGarden had said, though, no one could be sure with the 'kind smile' that she was placing, making it hard to place whether or not it was real. Either way, Knightwalker already had to deal with another issue as the fury of the Titania hadn't quelled, hearing that not only was her dragon slayer in that world was fooling around with her rival, but other women as well, especially the card mage at the bar. While, she had no direct interest in the dragon's affairs, though perhaps finding it a little odd how someone as great as those women would fall for someone of his statures. Although she had never fought the demon mage personally, she remembered her to at least be near _her_ Dragneel's and the Titania's strength, and she respected those with that much power. Though, something about the pinkette having another lover annoyed her slightly. Wait... her Dragneel?

"Hey... Edo Erza...?" calling out to her, she faced the pinkette. It was strange, the way he looked was almost like he either got over the whole 'multiple girlfriend's' thing or he didn't entirely care about it too much, "You said you were gonna put me through hell in training right...?" his body was shaking lightly, "Well... we only got one week too... but... I want you to make it the hardest training" facing her with a determined look, "I want to beg to be in hell when it's over..."

The look in his eyes was something she had never seen, and she had seen him angry in their last fight together, "S...Sure" answering him, "Though, shouldn't we be going on that 'job' Scarlet wanted to go on?" questioning.

"We probably should..." sighing, disappointed, "Oi... Erza" calling out to her. By the time he had, the three were in a light death battle as the scarlet knight had already requiped into her Purgatory armor, the white-haired mage was in her 'Satan Soul', and the card mage had a few cards out, probably praying to get out of the situation, "Let's go on that job" telling her, "Oh... Mira if you want to come too that's fine with me" simply offering with a light smile.

This didn't play in his favor as the white-haired mage happily slipped out of her transformation magic, "Really?!" sparkles in her eyes, "I'll go get a form then~" saying, just for the scarlet knight to conk her out for now, disagreeing with the plan.

Erza wasn't too pleased that the dragon slayer had easily offered her rival an opportunity to, and she made it easily notable as she struck him into the ground for saying such a thing before dragging him by the leg off to the job. Though, as much as she enjoyed to see Dragneel 'suffer' from his actions, especially since it was basing on the fact that the scarlet knight had no difficulty getting jealous coupled with how possessive she was with her beloved, she couldn't help feel oddly upset as she followed the pair. All she had to do was wait out a week and she would be able to go home and perhaps go back to her old life leading her army to... Well, to be honest she wasn't sure what she would be doing once she got home. The city was more or less still in a state of fixing up, and with her absence, she wasn't sure how the situation far. Since the Anima took all magic from their world, it was a little difficult as riots had occurred a little more from the panic, her job more or less had been to lead a force to subdue and make sure things were going well, so how things were currently beyond her ability to know.

Looking at the couple in front of her, she felt that something had changed, especially towards the way she felt. It wasn't big, she knew that much, but looking at the two as the scarlet knight 'scolded' and 'lectured' the dragon slayer on a crime he actually hadn't committed, she felt a little too used to see that. Hopefully, putting the dragon slayer through unimaginable training would get her mind off of everything.

-[x]-

The job seemed like a simple task, or well, that was what her counterpart Scarlet had said once she managed to calm down about 'Natsu's infidelity' even if he hadn't yet done anything. It was an S-Class job, and as the only S-Class wizard around, she was able to get the job approved so that the three of them could all partake. From what she gathered it was an urgent request from the Magic Council, saying that a large group of their Rune Knight's had been acting suspicious and from what intel they gathered from sources around, they were conspiring with Dark Guilds. Simply put, they were tasked with finding and eliminating the traitors if there was a reason to suspect so. To go along with them, however, was someone from the Council, just so that they could judge for themselves and approve that the guild had followed in suit and make a report back to the Council about what had happened.

However, it was a little unnerving that that was the condition as there was still the light issue that upon her arrival her, Knightwalker, she had almost gotten in trouble by the Magic Council here because she had inadvertently wiped out an entire Dark Guild without the permission. Though, while she didn't care about her own self, she was a little cautious about it as Scarlet and Dragneel would also face the repercussions, and she felt that after all they had heard, they didn't need to deal with such an issue.

Luckily, as a cautionary measure, all the Rune Knights working under the Magic Council could be traced; a safety feature as well as strategic measure so monitor, deploy, or move them as they saw fit. Using a special tracking Lacrima, the woman from the council led the three of them, not including her, to the spot where a bunch of Rune Knights had made their way. It was obscure, to find them so far out of the council's jurisdiction, but it only continued to make them look more suspicious. It wasn't until they had traveled a little further, that they found themselves in a light open place, and there, hidden in the trees they began to observe the actions of the RK.

"Hmmm...", Watching, there didn't seem to be anything unusual, as they were just standing there, almost mindlessly, "Wait..." the woman had said, catching something, "Something's happening..." she commented.

Before them, out of a burst of mist was a whole swarm of rebellious mages, and one of them had begun to make their way over to one of the Rune Knights. "So... what do you have for me?" the man had said.

"Drago" the RK had said before falling in respect, "Rumors began circulating around the Council of a new plan to purge all the Dark Guilds..." he began to say, "The creation of a new task force... as far as we know, it's still in the middle of development".

Intrigued, "Hmm... this could prove fatal to us and others..." he thought over, "We must move up the plan of attack" he said, "I'll gather the other Dark Guilds, and you will allow us to storm head front, right?" upon hearing it, the Rune Knight had nodded before stating

"Well... no point anymore..." the woman had said, "I've recorded all I needed to prove to the Council, you guys can go on with your job now I'll be waiting here" taking it a little easy, she had relaxed herself a little against a spot.

Having gotten the signal they needed they didn't need anymore so they starting making their mad dash to quickly eliminate the dark mages and the Rune Knights who conspired against the Council. She couldn't tell, but there were probably about thirty or forty knights conspiring, and about the same amount of mages or even more. Though, she didn't feel the least worried considering there were her, Dragneel, and Scarlet, all whom she felt could easily handle this from what she had felt. Especially there was Scarlet who was still stronger than she was, so even if these were trained Knights made to take down such mages, there was a feeling that she didn't need to worry so much. The same had gone with the dragon slayer, though there was a chance he was going to just leave the knights to them, as he seemed to have bull-dozed through the knights in a flaming frenzy.

Seeing that it was perfectly fine with her, "Silfarion!" shouting aloud, as the tip of her spear changed to a more triangular shape with a thick outline, her body was suddenly greatly lighter. Speeding up, she slashed through the knights in a massive zig-zagged movement, mowing them down. All the training she had done prior to her fight with Natsu had proved to be showing as she evaded perfectly and struck down the knights. "Eisenmeteor!" suddenly her entire spear had changed, with a singular jutting blade on both sides, allowing her to block and counter the strikes without problem.

"Fire Dragon's Flaming Iron Fist: Piercing Claw rev.!" Natsu, in a fury had amassed a large 'bout of flames that rapidly condensed engulfing his entire forearm. Slugging it forward, massively burning and using one of the mages as a weapon as they collided with others that were behind. It was no surprise that he was able to handle it, but something about it seemed fairly off. The pinkette looked like he was on a light rampage, fire running a little rampant, taking both magical and physical hits as sent them back with no problems, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" unleashing a violent bellow of flames, scorching and taking out a fraction of the dark guild, some began to think twice as the he gave them his attention. However, that didn't stop him. Even as they ran away or began to panic, he rushed in and jabbed with his left, before using his full strength in a fiery right straight that let loose a stream of flames, or crashing his heel or foot in a fiery explosion.

Annoyed, she spun around, cutting down the knights with her 'Ten Commandments: Eisenmeteor'. In the corner of her vision, she could see the Titania in her 'Flight Armor' a scarce animalistic leopard detailed outfit fit with two slight shorter blades. Diving through, she fell in a similar pattern as she, Erza Knightwalker, had prior, blocking and cutting through after. It was either a little as she wasn't limited to a singular weapon, and although her one of her magic weapon's forms had granted her another edge, it wasn't as fluid as she wanted as she watched the Scarlet struck with her kicks to fend off and meshing along with her couple blades struck. And oddly enough, even the exceed was a 'little' helpful, though really all he did was either drop rocks on people or blocked their vision as either Natsu or Scarlet finished them off.

"Natsu!" she yelled out at pinkette before merely slugging one of the charging knights, making a dent through their armor, "Let's do it!" calling out to him.

Having sent his flaming fist into another mage's chest, knocking them flat into the ground, "Fine" grumbling before he made his way to face Knightwalker, "Stay close! or better just follow m-" having being hit by a mage's magic he was cut off, "Damn it, I was talking!" Turning to immediately face the direction, he let out a violent bellow of flames.

"Here, I'll help~" swooping in, Happy picked her up and flew her across to where Dragneel was headed to, being helpful for once, "Oof... You're much heavier than Natsu..." she wanted to kill this cat.

Was he still angry from what McGarden has told them? That was the only thing she could make to be seeing as he had never fought this 'vicious' with her, which made her a little unnerved. She could tell that Scarlet was just as angry by the weight of her strikes, having even made a slight dent in the Rune Knight's armor. Not wanting to know what was going to happen, she made her way over to the couple thanks to the exceed, as the dragon slayer met Scarlet half way through. Wondering what was going to happen, she watched in dismay as they laced hands, facing outward with their bodies pressed against another.

"Unison Raid! Erupting Steel Hell!" shouting together.

Suddenly, the ground around them began to shake violently as the heat rapidly increased to deathly temperatures as a large mass of magic began to be amass from the couple. It wouldn't have been long until suddenly blades engulfed in flames began to spring 5 ft from the ground all around them, to which Knightwalker had gotten an idea what he had meant, and quickly, she made her way over to the middle of them bearing with the immense heat as the rest of the remaining dark mages and rune knights were being struck from below with no ways of escaping it until the place became a littered graveyard of fiery blades. Looking over to the couple, she watched as the dragon slayer had lightly fallen, to which the scarlet knight had to catch him and help him, assuming that 'bit of a magic combination' had drained a lot of the pinkette's magic. Whether or not he was still going to be capable of her training afterwards, well, she was just going to have to see. What she did know, was that she was glad she hadn't angered the dragon slayer or the Titania, at least not when they were at their 'peak'.

-[x]-

They had completed the job, though, perhaps with Scarlet's and Dragneel's 'Unison Raid' they could have ended it far sooner than allow them to waste time splitting up and attacking. Though, she had a slight feeling that the two of them needed 'vent' after hearing what McGarden had said about her world, and seeing as they were going on a job such as suspicion and extermination, they felt it was the perfect opportunity to relieve most of it. As promised the woman from the council had done their job and sent them the reward of one million jewels, something that seemed rather close to appropriate for the task given to them. Also, she had also mentioned she was going to 'close' the case about the incident that happened with the thieves, stating her other job was to 'observe' whether or not the 'scarlet killer' was a threat, saying it was only because she got to see a 'pretty Unison Raid'.

This had made things easier as with the money they had they could focus on either fixing up the house, or, per the dragon slayer's request, to take up her training like she had 'promised him'. It was kind of surprising, that for someone who could barely stand on his own, that he was still eager to go through with the task, even after requesting that she makes it harder than she already was planning to. Although, once they made their way back here with the necessary 'items' at hand, they were greeted by the eldest Strauss, who seemed a little too eager to see them back, and while the scarlet knight was upset and annoyed, she couldn't necessarily be 'mad' since the bar-maid had 'revived' the dragon slayer with a large burning treat.

Still, it was a sight for her to watch as she trained beside the pinkette. The two of them had tires strapped to them with chains as they lugged them around the dragon's house. Because he had insisted on making it 'harder' on himself, she had given him a heavier set, tagged with others to add the weight to it so it'd reach around 90lbs while she stuck with 70lbs. With that, they had made their way and ran around the house for the first day since they had less time after taking that job. To start them off with, she instructed that they would be running around nineteen times around the edge of the flat land, taking a little pity on him since he did go on a rampage earlier. To keep track, they asked the two women and the exceed, who were just watching, to keep track on a scoreboard the take over mage oddly had with her.

"Hurry up, Dragneel!" shouting at him, "I'm about six laps ahead of you!" telling him as she began to pass him once more. She couldn't necessarily argue that he was slacking, but given what had happened, she had to admit she was impressed he wasn't all talk. Though, she felt the need to push him, she couldn't be a true to her word if she allowed him to slack, "I swear, If I pass you one more time, I'm going to kick your ass while you're running!" encouraging him in a sense.

This got the dragon slayer worked up as he began to 'fire' up and push even harder. He wasn't passing her, but he was doing all he could to make sure he could keep up with her words. It was hard as he felt every part of his body ache in pain from the day's job, coupled with what was going on. "Just you watch..." gritting his teeth to keep him going, "This... is nothing!" forcing himself, he continued running even if his body was going to break. "There's no way... I'm gonna let anyone..." the things he had seen was a motivator to prevent that from happening to any of them. Especially Erza.

"...He's really giving it all he has" thinking. She was finding it hard to breathe as well since it had been a long while she had done this sort of training. Thinking, she recalled back to his words when they fought. '...That's because I have to! To protect those I care about!' the look on his face, full of anger and desperation, 'Jet, Droy, Laki, Bickslow, and some others are dead... at least in my world...' the words McGarden had spoke this morning, "..." silent, she was trying to figure him out. Looking back, he had done something similar to her back when they first 'reunited', when she first made her way back to Earth Land.

After a while longer, she had finally completed her running session as she was several laps ahead, and while she had to wait for the dragon slayer, she watched as even though he had fallen from over exertion, he would get up, crawl, force his way until he came to a complete stop. While she had barely managed to make it around the nineteen laps with the weight she had, he had only finished fifteen laps around before he came to a halt and finally collapsed. Even if his 'magic' and stamina had recovered thanks to the demon, there was still the over exertion he did while taking out the dark mages and bulldozing through the rune knights in the beginning. To be honest, she was impressed, just a bit, that he was able to do so much, pondering that all of his rage had finally fell out and caught up with him. While she wanted to 'punish' him for failing to finish, she found that it was probably better to make his punishment be an even harsher set of training for the rest of the time she was here.

Taking the straps off of him, she pulled him up and lugged him back to the house, throwing his arm over her neck to help with leverage, to meet up with his girlfriend who had helped him inside. Mira, as much as the scarlet knight hated having her around since the little reveal that in another universe she shared him with her, had offered to cook for them since it was likely Scarlet was going to help Dragneel in the shower, leaving her alone with the demon who had wanted to attack her earlier, along with the exceed who was lingering around the silver-haired woman. To say she was nervous wasn't quite right, but it did leave her a little concerned.

"...Don't worry, I'm not going to bite" breaking the silence, the elder Strauss faced her with a comforting smile. "You've got a convincing pair with you" smiling larger.

Curious, she couldn't help but understand, "I...don't get it" stating, "The first we spoke, you were ready to have my head..." telling her, "...Does that mean you're..."

"Not exactly" smiling as she continued to cook, "Sweet lil' Erza and her sweet dragon made a convincing case" telling her, "You should have seen it, the two of them strolled into the guild and we were all pretty still pissed with them, especially Elfman" it was a little odd how she could giggle just reminiscing, "I mean they went on an on about 'Gajeel' and 'Juvia', the other male dragon we have and the blue stalker, how they were our enemies and we just embraced them" she began to tell her, "See. Gajeel, he had attacked one of our own, crucified them, even destroyed our guild..." telling her, "But he took one for the team, letting Jet and Droy beat him near to death... saved them from Laxus... and after a while... even they took him as a friend".

Crossing her arms, "Sounds a little weak to me..." saying in a low breath, "If it were me... I would have accepted death with no regrets".

"It's not weak to forgive" telling her, putting a little finish touches, "But even so I was pretty mad with them for taking in the 'Fairy Hunter' of all to his home. So, to make it a 'little similar' the two of them took your 'punishment' personally. Though, of course Lil' Erza insisted on shouldering it all herself, Natsu couldn't take it and took the rest of it. And trust me, much as I love the lil' Salamander, I didn't hold back either..." telling her straight, "Okay, maybe a little..." showing how small by using her index and thumb. To be fair it was still a decent gap between her two fingers. "However,... you hurt one tiny hair of 'my dragon'..."

A little disturbed, something about how she said that made her uncomfortable, "...As much as I'm fine with Scarlet and...apparently you...liking him..." she said a little flat, "Dragneel and I are merely training partners until I leave at the end of the week".

"Oh? I thought you liked spying on Natsu~" the blue exceed called out, trying to hold in a laughter, "You're always looking at him like you're imagining it's you instead of our Erza".

Feeling a light twitch, she quickly threw a pillow to quiet the exceed, "Quiet you! I've no such desire for men who cannot best me!...I mean... he got close, but..." annoyed, feeling like she was playing into the blue cat's hand, "I don't like Dragneel!" feeling the need to throw another pillow, which she did anyway.

"Then we're fine~" replying in a sweet tone, "It'll be far easier for me to 'rescue' my poor little dragon from the evil Queen now".

However, a loud 'crash' happened causing her to face her attention, and as if she wasn't already bothered, it got a whole lot worse as she saw the Titania there in just a towel around her body, "Rescue WHOSE little dragon from WHAT kind of Queen?" darkening her gaze at the silver haired woman. Beside them was the dragon slayer in similar fashion, wearing just a towel, looking a little dulled as he's trying to figure out what's going on.

Her mind came to a screeching halt as she just realized the two of them showered together as if it was nothing, and what more the take over mage was perfectly fine with it. Sure, she had assumed something of the sort had happened since the pinkette could hardly move after the days worth of training and going on an S-Class job, however she didn't know that she would go as far as to 'literally' get in the bath with him. Wanting to delete it from her mind, she instead focused on something else, like the fact the two of them 'paid' for her insurrection. It had explained why the one day they were happily able to tell her that she could temporarily join their guild, and why they had looked so trashed like they got pummeled. The fact was, was that was what actually happened. Scarlet and Dragneel took her 'place' in front of their whole guild with no arguments or complaints. Over the time she was here, they did a lot of things she didn't ask for...

-[x]-

 _ **~Erza Scarlet's POV~**_

The night began to pass on as the five of them, not including the exceed, partook in the dinner that the take over mage had made, and although she was here for 'obvious' reasons, Scarlet was particularly at least thankful her 'rival' had made dinner. It always bothered her though, as the look the dragon slayer's face always looked in light bliss whenever he ate her cooking, compared to her own. A little bitter, she really felt inferior to her rival's cooking, making her believe she should at least persuade Lisanna,...or at least Elfman for cooking lessons...she would never feel comfortable asking Mira herself. The thought of owing the Demon of Fairy Tail didn't please her the bit, knowing that Natsu would be involved in some sort of way. It was lucky though that she didn't want to stay the night, something about promising her siblings they'd go out on jobs together in the morning, leaving Kinana to the bar. With that, she could be at peace knowing it was just going to be her, Knightwalker, and her beloved. Though, she knew that the days to come until Knightwalker would leave, the dragon slayer was going to be pushed to his utmost limit.

Lying in bed, she huddled up a little against him, feeling like it had been a long while since she held her dragon in bed. Surely he hadn't gone away, but he was too sore from his and Knightwalker's fight that she was afraid to hinder the healing process, and now since he had recovered enough, she was finally able to rest with him. Ever since McGarden had mentioned, no, since the night she overheard his and Knightwalker's fight, she began to worry slightly, understanding the reason why Natsu had gone through so much to get where he was, and with this 'other' Levy coming in and showering them the state of her world, as well as the fates of the others, his behavior had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. It wouldn't be a lie to say she didn't feel the same anger, but the difference between was that he was least forgiving.

"...Natsu?" calling out to him, hoping to get his attention, "Are you awake?"

Mumbling a little, he rustled around in his sleep, "Mmm... whatchu' want, Erza?" a little tired, his eyes still closed, he moved around until he felt he was at least facing her.

"...You're not still upset about what happened earlier, are you?" asking, "You've been going at it a little rough today, pushing yourself more than you've ever had. I mean, I'm proud of you, no doubt about it, but you don't know your limits" reminding him. "It's okay... you know... to just..."

Cutting her off, he yawned a little, before opening his eyes tiredly to face her, "I'm not gonna let any of that happen to you... or anyone else" telling her straight. She could see the burning determination in his eyes, "You are my strong... burning, sometimes hot-tempered...Queen" telling her, a little lucky she hadn't knocked him for that one comment, "...And I promised Simon to make sure you never cry again..." hearing that shocked her, remembering the promise he had made with her late friend, "I've already broken that promise twice... and it kills me that I have..." gently holding her face, brushing her cheek softly, "I'm not gonna let it happen again..." smiling large, "I'll get stronger... far stronger than even Gildarts..."

"Natsu..." holding his hand gently, "Then if you're going to get stronger, then I am too" dulling her gaze at him.

Returning the same look, "...Then wouldn't it be pointless? I mean I still can't even beat you, so at least let me get that high up" narrowing the dulled gaze at her.

"Nope" denying him, she pulled him for a full embrace, smiling, "You can try as hard as you want, but I'm always going to be one-step higher than you whether you like it or not" smiling, a little triumphant, smothering him a little. "You're always so warm" reveling as she's using him like a cuddly toy, "Don't worry about surpassing me, just be my warm dragon".

Eventually, after a light tussle, he pinned her down to the face, flashing to her a determined grin, "Oh... I'm gonna surpass you, just you wait, Erza" the feeling she got from this began to drive her a little, "You think my flames are hot, just wait, I'm going to melt everything around me".

"...", She couldn't but feel smitten by his determination, her heart began to race quickly against her chest the more he planned to 'surpass her', seeing that look sent a warmth throughout her, "Fine" accepting his declaration, "Then with our 'ultimate' mock battle, you better be giving me everything, Natsu. I don't care whether or not you've perfected whatever moves. Treat me like some delicate princess, and I won't forgive you...ever".

Smiling down at her, "Oh... don't worry, I'll definitely turn up the heat next time" narrowing his gaze down at her, "I swear-"

"Ughhh..." rising out of bed, Knightwalker turned to face the two, "Seriously, if you're going to fuck, do it already" annoyed, "If not, shut up, and go to bed" bluntly telling the couple before going back to bed. It was a little difficult for the Fairy Hunter to get some sleep, having to hear the couple go on and on about their situation.

However, the concept left the Titania a little flustered of how open Knightwalker was about what to do with their relationship. Though, the dragon slayer was a little lost on what she meant, looking a bit clueless of what his beloved was so embarrassed about. And as she thought about it, they never really 'talked' about things like that, heck, it was bad enough Natsu didn't even know what she meant. It took him a while to even confess let alone become okay with things like 'kissing'. Things like bathing together or sleeping with one another was already something they were already fine with as it was something they were used to since their childhood days, and it only made it more 'eventful' so to say when the two transitioned from 'friends' to 'lovers'. She had a point though, Scarlet had wondered about the pinkette's sort of 'lack' of making any attempts, and she was a little embarrassed herself about going along with it since she felt it was a little 'taking advantage' of a clueless person. Shaking her head of those thoughts, she simply pressed her lips against the dragon slayer's, and watched as he went back to sleep, knowing he'd have a full day of training awaiting him for the rest of the week.

Though, as she faced the slumbering dragon who could somehow manage to sleep so soundly, her mind began to drift back to the Tower of Heaven, remember how he wouldn't stand down. Forcing himself to eat all that Etherion just to stop someone she couldn't beat. That's right, he would do anything to push beyond her own ability and save her, protect her. The repercussions of it didn't matter to him as long as she could still smile at him. And now he was going to continue to do that to protect those close to him. Especially her. She had tried to shake the thoughts out of her head, but the more she had tried the more it wouldn't leave. Frustrated, she moved away, brushing her hand against his peaceful sleeping face.

-[x]-

Breathing rough, pushing herself, the Titania made her way out back and changed into some training clothing so that she could get to work on pushing herself further. It wasn't like she was slacking in her own training, but watching Natsu earlier in the day rush around with her edolas counterpart had spurred her to do the same if she was ever going to stay one step ahead of him. She knew that with how hard he's been going at it, there would be no doubt that he was going to catch up to her, hell, if today has proven anything it was that he was already catching up to her. Even if the majority of it was out of pure anger, he had shown everything had done since that day was closing the gap between them. A large part of her was proud of that, watching him grow into a strong powerful mage was what she had always aspired of him, but, the way he was going about it was what worried her the most. At first it didn't seem so bad, but his anger is wild and untamed, and a good part of it was because she wasn't strong enough.

She hadn't done much, but with what they had she recreated the same training that the two of them had done earlier in the day, namely running around on the breach of the perimeter with the tires strapped to her. To start with, she strapped a couple so that a couple would equal to roughly 90lbs. It was a similar sort of training she had done with boulders back when she was younger, but perhaps this was easier access and not have to worry of the weather crippling it. Plus, it was easier to handle if she ever needed to increase or adjust the weight in any case. The only real downside was that she had to focus and find a 'point' she could use to mark when she had finished a single lap.

"I need... to keep it up..." Telling herself, finding her breath growing heavy. "Only a few more laps to go..." telling herself as she continued to push on.

Running, she was trying to keep up as hard as she could, though, as she was, she had eventually noticed a person standing there watching her with a dulled look in their eyes as she passed her marker, prompting her to stop, allowing her to catch her breath. It was Knightwalker, looking a little tired and unamused as she watched what was going on. She didn't know why she was here, but it was obvious that she probably wanted to talk to her, or at least confront her about some odd ordeal.

"I always found it odd that Dragneel never could beat you" she said yawning a little. "I was a little annoyed from all of today so I thought I'd get a breath of fresh air before heading back to bed, yet I find you're trying to widen the gap between you and him again?" noting from what she could observe. "Is the Knight afraid of the Dragon growing too powerful?"

Catching her breath, she unlatched the strap that was attaching the weights to her so she could feel a little more 'free'. "Not in a million years,...Knightwalker" telling her, a little too worn to be dealing with this, "But just like Natsu, I'm not going to sit around. I'm going to get stronger so that I could protect my family and friends..."

"-And Dragneel" adding on. "I'm not going to lie, I'm a little pissed at him for handling our fight like it meant nothing..." What she had seen today was a side of them she didn't think existed, and a part of her was glad at that fact, "But that just means he has 'potential' and I seek to unleash it..." telling her, "And he seems to want to after seeing _that_ " referring to what McGarden had showed them.

Tightening her fist she tried to control herself a little, "You don't know Natsu like I do" telling her, "He will go to no lengths to protect his family, and myself". Sighing, calming herself, "I admire that a lot about him... but he's... reckless" admitting, "He thinks of his family... of me... and ways or what he can do to protect them, but that's his thorn. He doesn't think about what will happen to _him_ " stating. Walking over, she picked up a bottle of water and took a sip of it just to regain some of her stamina, "He's stupid... stubborn... see, Natsu can consume fire, as you've seen, to replenish his energy. However, if he eats _anything but_ fire, it has a huge negative effect on him. Like when he consumed Etherion because 'he needed' the power to get through it..."

"...I don't understand..." telling her, "That makes Dragneel an honorable warrior... and if anything a comrad-"

Interrupting her, "But he's more than just a comrade" telling her with a light smile. "I've known the little idiot for years... most of these people in Fairy Tail. That's why if anything happened to him..." falling short as she remembered everything that had happened up to this point, "...or anyone else, I don't think I could forgive myself" she was exactly like him, the more she thought about it. However, that didn't change the fact that she needed to be the one to be stronger, "It's a little silly... but he reminded me there's no point in protecting your friends if you yourself don't make it out alive. You hurt them more than you could have claimed to say 'you did it to protect them'. No matter how little or how much... our bonds is what lets us push on forward" saying as she adjusted the weights a little.

She could tell on the look on Knightwalker's face that she didn't know what she meant, but she didn't expect her to. It wasn't out of any malice or her being condescending, but probably because she wasn't going to force her ideals onto her. Sighing just a little, she began to wonder herself how far she would have to go, but perhaps it was a little silly of herself to have told her counterpart all of that and yet she hadn't the actual thought of telling him upfront. Though, the more she played out the scenario's of telling him, it somehow ended with the two of them 'arguing' of sorts. Well, it would have gone along something of the words like 'I'm going to surpass you! Just you watch' ignoring what she would say, and possibly, she'd just tell him the same 'You can, but i'll still be one step ahead' of her. In truth, she was just a little too 'ashamed' to have to tell him she was concerned about losing him because he'd do something stupid, since he'd just tell her 'Don't worry, it'll be fine' and pass off one of his smiles.

-[x]-

 _ **~Third Day, Erza Knightwalker's POV~**_

As the days began to slowly pass, the three of them would continue their 'intense' training whenever the sun would rise. Being the strict instructor he asked for, she would wake him just at the crack of dawn, and the two of them would start the day with a light run around the same perimeter. To start with, they would run for twenty laps to get them going, and not surprisingly, without the weights he hadn't fallen the slightest behind. However, the rush start in the morning would cause him from time to time to lightly fall back asleep, which prompted her to kick him anytime she saw him fall even the slightest asleep. Joining them occasionally was the tiny exceed who would fly the same course. Afterwards, they would do two sets of fifty push ups, with the exceed doing significantly less. Next would be a hundred squats, and one hundred sit ups, leaving the rest of the day for sparring and weight training. Scarlet would sleep in just a little considering she had been pulling a 'Natsu Dragneel' and would sneak off in the middle of the night to do the same thing they would do, with the same motivation of staying as ahead as she could.

A little worn out, the two of them were in a middle of a spar match, and while she took off her gauntlet's this time, he was forbidden to use _any_ magic to help amplify his strikes in any way. Part of it was primarily because she didn't want to be horrifically burned like what had happened on their job, but the other would be because she wanted to gauge 'how strong' he could be without his magic. It was important, if anything, so that she can measure where he was at and if she needed to tweak his training in any way.

"Really?...All that training and you still hit like a bitch..." mocking him, despite her fatigued breathing. "I'm starting to think 'anger' is the only reason you ever landed a draw with me".

Smiling a little devious towards her, "Yeah... I can say the same thing to you" commenting as he tried to catch his breath, "All that 'power' talk and really Happy could take you on without breaking a sweat".

Finishing their 'little chat' the two of them went back to sparring. As she'd strike, he find some means to block her punch and strike back, definitely feeling a hard impact. She'd do the same. Like that the two of them would exchange blows, making any dire attempt they could to knock out the other. There was one thing she had to admit, however, his kicks _hurt_ , especially when he'd push her back and strike with his heel. If she wasn't a trained soldier that led an entire army, he wouldn't have managed as much as she had. Though it was what she expected from someone who was dating the Titania. He was focused, and while she had to admit he lacked in other aspects, considering he had no idea what she was talking about when she said he and Scarlet should have 'slept' together and got it over with, he had made up for it in combat at the very least.

"What's goin' on here?" a little distracted, a voice came out that 'lightly' distracted the dragon slayer.

Not letting him off easy, "You're distracted!" saying as she kicked him square in the chest. Despite him having refocused on the situation, he was a little off as the impact had knocked the wind out of him and landed him flat on his back. "Basic rules, Dragneel" telling him, "Never get side tracked in a one on one fight".

"Damn it, Gray..." catching his breath he lied flat down on the ground, staring up at the ice mage that had stumbled over to them alongside Lucy, "What're you doin' here Ice Princess..." narrowing his gaze over.

Looking down at him, "I wanted to see you get your ass kicked..." commenting with a light smirk as he casually looked down at him, "What about you flame brain? You an' Erza haven't shown up at the guild for a few days" mentioning, "So Lucy and I wanted to stop by to see if you got yourself thrown back in bed 'cause you lost against 'another' Erza. Well to be fair, we wanted to check up on Erza... you just happened to be here".

"Why I oughtta..." getting riled up, he got up and locked eyes with the ice mage, "Just you wait... I'm gonna get so strong you'll be left in my dust, Popsicle head".

Sighing, the blonde was drained of energy, "...This wasn't why we came" a little exhausted seeing them fight already. Though, as she looked around, she had noticed that only Edolas Erza was around, "Oh? Where's Erza?" asking as she faced the Edolas doppel.

"Scarlet is sleeping" bluntly telling her, "She's reveling in not needing to babysit Dragneel over there... though, if you want, you're free to join our training" not finding any problems. "Actually..." thinking about it, looking over at the dragon slayer and ice mage physically trying to beat down the other, "...It might prove perfect training now that I think about it". Making her way over to the two mages duking it out, "Dragneel... Uh..." a little dulled, she wasn't sure what to call the other mage, "Stripper" calling him based on the fact that somehow, even though he had arrived with clothes, they were gone aside from his boxers. Catching both their attentions, "You both are going to lug 100lbs around Dragneel's house until I say so" telling them.

One of them was excited, though it was obvious which that one was. The other wasn't very so, "W-Wait, 100lbs?! No way. You may look like Erza, but there's no way you're go-" however before he could finished, she struck him into the ground with a single punch.

"You're going to. And you're going to enjoy it" glaring down at the struck ice mage.

Shivering behind, the celestial got a terrifying vibe that ran down her spine, "...She's just like our Erza..." commenting out of fear, "...No, maybe scarier".

"..." turning to face her with the same darkened glare, "...Do you want to end up like him?"

Terrified even more, "N-No! I'm good" drained of the rest of her energy, she slumped down next to the blue exceed.

Changing it up a little, Knightwalker had strapped the same amount of weight to the two mages and joined them with a slightly lighter set for herself, as she wasn't that reckless. A part of it felt like it was because she was slightly perturbed that Scarlet would go out of her way to keep the gap between the two so large, so possibly out of a little spite, she decided to increase his weights. She didn't know why she had done so, honestly anything to do with that couple wasn't of any importance, but she had been lingering upon Scarlet's words that night and wondered 'how far' Dragneel would honestly go. Surely, she had seen it for herself when they first started, however, that was the clincher that intrigued her on the potential he could have. And perhaps somewhere, she had wanted the dragon slayer to 'beat' her as well. They only have four days left together, and she wanted to see how far he could reach before then.

-[x]-

Though as the day began to end, she found herself worn out after having ran the entire day, well, most of it, with the 80lbs weights behind her she had to drag. Some while the Ice Mage had fallen exhausted, saying they were insane that they were this reckless to have been training like this the past four days and left alongside the blonde that had followed him, the exceed snickering something about how 'oddly close' they've been. She had used him in order to push Dragneel, knowing that the pinkette would do anything it seemed to just one-up his friend and rival, though a part of her assumed she had gone a little too far in her method. Unlike before, she had used his anger as a means to get him to push himself, but as it went on today, it seemed like he was chasing far more than anger. There was a similar look in Scarlet when she would train on her own, both of them trying to reach a shadow in front of them for the same reason. And right now, she could see it far clearer in the dragon slayer. It was like he was haunted and consumed by something that was driving him to keep going, and even she had her limits.

Having already tuckered herself in after her work out, she came back outside and noticed that the pinkette was still forcing himself to drag that weight along with him around the perimeter. His breath was ragged, and she was honestly surprised he could even manage to walk like this after she had left him to wash up. Annoyed, she made her way over to see him struggling, grunting to pull the strap, seemingly having taken it off as it was probably hampering him at the rate he was going. And the look in his eyes, were filled with far more than determination.

"Dragneel..." calling out to him sternly, getting his attention, "Training is over" telling him, "Any further and you're going to put yourself in a condition where you'll have trouble doing the easiest task" reminding him with her arms crossed. "Dragneel!" yelling at him as he wasn't paying attention.

However, he wasn't listening to her. His breath was growing rougher by the second, and to be honest he seemed a little 'off'. The air around him was hot, as if it was leaking personally from his own body and not around. It then made her realize he had been doing all of this _without_ his magic, because she had told him from the start that training would be pointless if he used magic. Surprised, and a little shocked, it was his natural instinct for his flames to erupt the harder it got for him physically.

Him ignoring her was starting to get on her nerves, which was probably why Scarlet was so worried about him, "Are you listening to me?!" making her way over, "I'm talking to yo-" however her eyes widened in light fear as she bore witness to what was before her.

"I'm not... going to...", breathing hard, it was physically wrecking him to continue along. She hadn't gotten a good look from before, but now that she got closer she had noticed faint patches of scales beginning to form as the heat she felt was growing hotter, "...lose..." and as it grew, she felt a terror inside as his features began to slowly change, until for a moment, the dragon slayer before her had been replaced with the image of a large fiery dragon just faintly before he had finally collapsed to the ground, him turning back to normal "...again..."

Stunned, she felt her heart in light terror as she stood there, looking down upon the fallen dragon slayer. It was like her eyes were playing tricks on her after working out in the sun for too long and she had peaked, because to her, it was like she had come face to face with a dragon. Waiting a while, catching her breath just a bit, she quickly shook it off and disregarded it for the moment, thinking it was impossible. As far as she knew, there were no such things as dragons where she came from, and definitely from here. Though, if Scarlet had said he was a 'fire' dragon slayer who could 'eat' fire and rejuvenate himself, there had to be some meaning behind why such a mage existed. Regardless, she would have to ask him about it later, or her, one of them would know about the terrifying feeling that she had gotten from seeing something like that. And as she helped him into the house, she couldn't help but pass a gaze over to him as he was trying to recover in his out state, wondering what was hiding.

-[x]-

 _ **~Fourth Day, Erza Scarlet's POV~**_

With Natsu overexerting himself the previous day, and with only a few days left until both McGarden and Edolas Erza leave, the Titania had proposed a little 'get away' for some of their guild members, and although it would hamper the fixation of the IVD, she had felt that a day or so at the beach wouldn't be too bad so that they could relax and at least enjoy the little time she had while she was here. Thus, both teams, Team Natsu and Team Shadow Gear, had made their way over so that they could enjoy themselves. It was a little reliever for McGarden too, seeing that with all the things she had had to deal with in her own world, a little time with her old team could do some good for her, let her at least be able to spend some time with them before having to leave once more. Gajeel came too, feeling a little bad for what he had said to the other Levy, and wanted to kind of 'make it up' to her, as well as ask her how for someone so strong was able to easily deck him. Namely, he was mostly interested in her strength, and while there was probably an other Gajeel back in her world as well, he wanted to at least express his sincere apologies directly, seeing as he would likely do the same with his own Levy, though he wouldn't admit it.

Standing there, the scarlet knight was standing proud next to her team as they faced off against the other, Team Natsu vs Team Shadow Gear, two dragon slayers vs one dragon slayer, and honestly, she was liking the odds. Even though Natsu was worn and torn after his little 'accident' the day before, they had an ace that was Wendy, who did a fine job healing, though she probably felt a little pressured due to the two Erza's being around. It wasn't like they had actually done anything, but still it was just a scary sight for most.

They were buddied up, her and Natsu, Gray and Lucy, Gajeel and Levy, and well Jet, McGarden, and Droy, all at a fixed point for a three-legged, four in the last team's case, and ready to dominate. Charle and Happy were the referees alongside Wendy who was the announcer, while Knightwalker stood out next to Pantherlily, saying she didn't want to be involved as it seemed like a 'silly waste' of time, but decided to come along just because she had nothing better to do, and thought it wasn't too bad to get a change of scenery here and there. "On your mark... get set...Go!" Wendy called as the two exceeds took to the skies.

"Let's go, Natsu!" Erza called out to her partner in determination.

With that, the four teams ran off as fast as they could, coordinating as best as they could over the sandy shore. It was a sight to see as from the beginning, all four teams had a more or less even and equal chance, but it wouldn't have been long after until some of the teams began to fall back and stumble a little from falling out of sync. It was an exhilarating race for the four of them as eventually Gray and Lucy fell short, leaving only the three teams, Natsu and Erza, Gajeel and Levy, and Team Shadow gear with Mcgarden in last place. It was neck to neck as the two dragon slayers with their respective others were battling it out with each other as they continued to race across the sandy shore.

"G-Gajeel..." Levy was crying out, a faint blush across her face as she looked up to the iron dragon slayer, "I-...I don't think I can..."

Seeing what was going on, "W-wait! If you stop no...-" he was cut off as the two fell out of sync, and wound of crashing onto the sand, watching as the other team passed her. Annoyed a little, he rose up from the sand, "What was that for?!"

"S-Sorry..." apologizing, "It's just... W-we were a little too close..." flustered a little more.

It then came to his attention what she had meant, causing him to look to the side, avoiding his gaze with a light fluster on his face, "F-Fine... whatever..." completely getting over it.

"Ah! They liiiikkkkeee each other~" Happy snickered in the air, passing over them as they kept up with the other two teams.

This had made the two burn red even more as one of them was feeling more shameful, and the other got fairly angry that the exceed called them out them like that. Eventually it was no shock to anyone that Natsu and Erza had won the three-legged race as they made it across to the end point at the half-way point of the entire beach. As they 'celebrated' their victory, Erza had jumped onto his back as he carried her, embracing her beloved from the back tightly. Even though practically everyone had known they were going to win, they had no problems shoving it in front of everyone as they ran around, the Titania affectionately began rubbing her cheek up against her dragon.

"...It's better than I thought" Gray had said aloud, "The 'terrifying' reign of Erza has finally come to an end".

A little terrified, the blonde looked to him, "Don't say that!" commenting, "The dragon has ears, very g-" however, she was interrupted as a light ball of flames fell her way, forcing her to slowly turn her way towards them.

"Forward!" the Titania had shouted, holding one of her blades as she pointed towards them. "Evil has yet to be destroyed!"

Almost like he was 'following' her command, the dragon slayer had ran at full speed towards them, the Titania on his back as he began to bellow bolts of flames their way. They went from 'affectionate' mode to 'knight and dragon demolition' mode as they chased them across the beach, bellowing light flames at them as they chased the ice and celestial mage across the beach. It wasn't surprising that the two of them got a little caught up in what they were doing, but in Erza's mind she had taken this as a 'fantasy medieval world' where she was the shining champion, with her faithful dragon companion ready to smite the evil that were left in the lands. It just somehow wound up and made Lucy the evil wizard who casted a large shadow across with her ice monster, which supposedly was Gray, ready to place the world in an eternal frost. Moments like these was what she wish she could continue to have with her dragon and friends, which was the reason behind what she had been doing.

Eventually, they had stopped, much to Lucy's delight as she had been a little worn and exhausted from trying to avoid the fire dragon slayer's flame breath from hitting her. Though it didn't help that Gray fell into role trying to build Ice 'fortresses' to protect them, though in hindsight it was probably just him trying to build actual protection and Erza simply took them as 'fortresses'.

"You did well, my faithful dragon" saying as she 'clung' to him, "Perhaps one day the 'battle' will be over and we can live out our lives in peace..." pressing her lips softly against his cheek as he lightly held her a little more.

McGarden, seeing the scene had a light smile on her face, watching, "I really am glad... things here are fine" saying as she fiddled a little, getting the sand out from her toes.

"...It's really that bad, huh?" Natsu asked, assessing the mood, "Well. I'm definitely gonna make sure things stay that way here" telling her with a proud smile, embracing Erza a little tighter. "Say... how strong is the 'other' me anyways?" curious.

Smiling a little, she wasn't sure how else to tell him, "Well... to bluntly put, _much_ stronger than you" telling her, "He basically took down Laxus, Natsu, Gray, AND Erza in another world all at once... even gives 'our' Gildarts a troubling time" saying. The reaction she got was what she expected. "See... The top two in our guild are...Gildarts and Natsu... then Erza, Mira, Juvia, and Laxus..." listing, "Then our top A-Classes are Me, Lucy, Gray, Cana, Gajeel..." she said, placing a list of how the other members rank, "I think that's it, but yeah... You're probably at Lucy's level right now...maybe..."

"LUCY CAN TAKE ON NATSU?!" Everyone showed a shock as they faced 'their' celestial mage.

Shocked, it wasn't long until Lucy herself got glaring eyes from her teammates, "So... you've been holding back on us,...ey Luce?" darkened, she didn't like the terror she was feeling from all of them.

"N-No! S-She mean-" however, before the blonde could follow through with the rest of her words, Natsu, his fists ablaze had sent her flying.

A little disappointed, he looked off to the far distant, "Huh... I guess she wasn't holding anything back after all" using his hand to block the sun and trace her distance, "Oh wells..."

"I guess 'our' Lucy is still the same..." the exceed commented, doing the same as his friend.

However, the female exceed beside him corrected, "She said _their_ Lucy" reminding, "Our Lucy is still likely pretty weak... ish".

"Oi! What was that for ash for brains?!" Gray said, getting a little defensive.

Getting riled up, "Hey! Second Levy said Lucy could take me on!" telling him, "You know I had to see if that was true!"

Watching the two, she was thinking over how McGarden had said that the 'other' versions of themselves were far stronger than they were, well, she could assess she was probably on par or at least 'close' in strength to her counterpart. That was probably just the motivation Natsu needed to hear to continue his training, and as she passed a gaze over to Knightwalker who was still sitting under the umbrella, a little fixated on the pinkette, she probably would see this as a better excuse to continue pushing him just to 'spite her' and ignore her wishes. Though, as she recalled last night when she brought him in, she had a look on her face, and she hadn't been comfortable since. Something had happened during her training with Natsu, and it obviously wasn't that good. Either way, with the coming days she wasn't sure how things were going to go, and probably there was no use in trying to hide it. She was going to have a long 'talk' with Natsu over what he was doing, and perhaps she could, in some way ease whatever was on her mind. Later, if she could, she'd ask Knightwalker if anything was bothering her.

-[x]-

As the day came to a close, most of the people had left from the beach and headed back to the guild. After the 'scuffle' between the two, they broke up into groups and decided to play a variety of games, like volleyball, attack the castle, and then for some for some odd reason, Natsu and Gajeel just wound up claiming 'whose' girl was better, and while she was happy that Natsu defended her honor up to the very end, she felt a little bad for Levy who got embarrassed and ran off like that, prompting the rest to go after her. Namely, it was just her, Knightwalker, and Natsu that were still here. She had wanted to speak with the both of them, but as soon as everyone else ran off back home her Edolas counterpart and 'stolen' him for some 'training' since they were done playing around, saying there were 'no excuses' to skip out. She had kind of expected that to happened, so that just left her waiting for them until she deemed they were 'done'. It shouldn't be hard, since she was always proud to see him and his growth, though, he just seem fairly insistent of surpassing her through any means.

Sitting on the beach, she rested her legs up against her chest as the sun began to slowly fall, feeling the nice cool wind rush and brush up against her as the water would just barely breach where her feet were. Somehow she was a little hesitant in confronting the dragon slayer about such a thing, since 'surpassing' her was all he wanted, well, to be honest he wanted to surpass Gildarts, that was the real goal he had in mind. Would he be angry? Annoyed? Either way she didn't see a conversation where the talk between them could go any smoothly. She inevitably, she prepared herself for the worse, for him to say or do something stupid and be angry.

"Sorry... did you wait long?" breaking her out of her thoughts, she turned to see a worn out dragon slayer, looking as if he was about to kill over, "Edo Erza really made me run..." dropping beside her, relaxing as he 'fell' against her, resting.

Blushed a little, she hated when he did this, mainly because it _always_ eased her no matter what she was feeling, a dirty trick he gained from exposing her to this over a long period of time. "No... it's fine" telling him. Instinctively, she rested back up against him, letting her hand fall onto his. "Natsu" calling out to him, "You're gonna train even harder to get up to 'that' Natsu's level, aren't you?" bluntly pointing it out to him.

"Damn straight!" saying a little excited, "If there's a me out there who can reach Gildart's level, there's no way the same can't happen to me".

So far, the conversation was going along almost exactly like the one she had mapped out in her head. The words she was going to say to follow through was 'But you don't need to do that', but if she did she was just going to wind up be in another argument with him. "...Of course you can" telling him otherwise, "I told you remember? You're the one that _will_ surpass me" tensing her grip on her hand against his, "Though, even when you do, if you look down on me because of it I'm going to seriously hurt you,... you know that right?"

"Eh?" how he responded wasn't how she expected at all. Though, even if she had 'changed up' seeing that maybe she couldn't 'crush' his hopes, she was expecting more on the lines of 'You bet i'll surpass you!' or 'ahahaha Bow to the great King Dragneel', instead, he had turned to face her, "Well... yeah I want to surpass you" telling her, facing her earnestly, "But it's not like I wanna leave you in the dust" blankly looking at her. "You're gonna be up there with me, aren't ya?"

Startled, she wasn't sure what he was getting at, "It's not really 'surpassing' me if we're at the same level, Natsu" dulling her eyes at him. For a moment she wondered whether or not he knew what the word 'surpass' meant, considering she had to 'beat' all the words into him, she may have missed a few words here and there, but she was sure he 'at least' knew what she was getting at. "Unless you're saying you would be _fine_ with you and me being roughly equals?"

"Of course" answering like he wasn't sure why he had to, "Honestly... maybe I've been a little...focused..." saying as he fell back against her shoulder, "I always think about what that jerk did to you... what Laxus had done to our guild... and just... what the other Levy showed us... but you know" changing his tone a little, "Hearing that 'other' me is so strong... and you're still so strong and Lucy... and unfortunately still Gray... kind of gave me a happiness... that even if we're all in peril... that we're still so strong... stronger than we are now". Turning to face her, "I mean... I'm still going to get strong, stronger than that 'other' me and I'll definitely make sure that smile of yours stays" grinning largely he embraced her close and tight, "You're the best person in my life, Erza, and I'm never... going to let anyone hurt you again" telling her, "Well... and Happy... I wouldn't say Gray is after...maybe at the end of the li-"

Realizing he was getting off topic, she cut him off with a firm press of her lips against his. Her face flustered, feeling a burst of warmth as her heart began to race against her chest, eventually caused he to fall a little weak, allowing the dragon to 'pin' her to the ground. Even as she broke the kiss between them, she could feel his breath against her lips, leaving a lingering sensation, staring into his eyes. She knew that she couldn't stop him from pursuing the path he's chosen, and she didn't expect him to stray even a bit away from it. The reason was because 'she was the same'. They were never going to forget what had happened in their pasts, though, as long as he was at least acknowledging she was going to be there next to him, perhaps lessened her worry just a little.

"...You're the best person in my life too,... you reckless idiot" smiling, she brought him down for another show of affection, as she held him firmly against her. "...Though... I supposed we're both idiots..."

As the two smiled at the thought, a part of her remembered what Knightwalker had 'suggested' that one night, causing her face to grow as red as her hair, prompting him to knock him off with enough force because her 'poor' heart couldn't handle it as she rose up, feeling a little guilty for her actions. He looked like he was still in a daze, probably from the days activity, and Edo Erza's last minute training that the force must have knocked him out for a bit.

Reaching out to try and get to help, she had noticed Knightwalker was there, staring a little blank at her with a slight tint of annoyance, as if she was there for a while. A little frozen, she wasn't sure how to take it as she probably had seen them like that and just chose not to say anything as they were 'having a moment'. And without a word, she watched as the Fairy Hunter silently made her way around and took a seat just on the other side of her, gaining her curiosity. Though, before she could 'deal' with her, the Titania made her way over the fallen dragon slayer and comfortably rested him on her legs, a little flustered looking and brushing aside his hair.

"Scarlet..." calling out to her, Erza had faced her counterpart as she kept her eyes to the ocean, "I saw a dragon..." bluntly saying, "And for a moment... he kind of looked like one too..." trying not to sound a little ridiculous.

However, it caught her attention, "Dragon...?" asking, wanting to further know what she meant, "What do you mea-" however thinking it a little over, she recalled back in the tower, when Natsu had consumed Etherion in order to stop Jellal. It was the first, but his face and patches around his body gained light defining scales, and for a moment, she too also felt like she 'saw a dragon' in flames right before her. "I see... he's getting _there_ then..." commenting, looking down at him, "Is that why you had him run all over the beach today?"

"..." she didn't answer her, though it was clear that the answer was 'yes'. "I saw it in his eyes... felt it in those flames when he was running..." commenting to her, "I've never felt...terrified like that" commenting. Erza Knightwalker, was a proud, strong warrior in all sense of the words. Leader of an army task force, eliminating those before her. But, those were 'people'. Humans she could easily topple with sheer strength and force. "It's comforting that you're stopping with that 'one track' sense of needing to protect him, Scarlet, because it's a miracle, but... that fear of what's driving him" telling her, "The fear of losing those precious to him,... is going to 'unleash' a monster that will burn and demolish everything in its path..."

Though, she simply ran her fingers through his hair, "We're all terrified", smiling, she knelt over and softly pecked his forehead, "As much as I want to, I could never feel comfortable, knowing he'd be stronger than me. If he was, then he would 'fight' all the battles, 'take the pain' for all of them. He's stupid. Reckless. Doesn't even listen to anyone when it's for his own good..." telling her, "He will burn and demolish everything even if his own body gives out. It's only natural that I would do the same for him, and everyone" she didn't know what changed her thoughts, or eased her conscious, but perhaps it was the revelation that he 'always assumed' she was going to stand at the top next to him.

"You once told me... he thinks of you... of everyone, that is why he is so reckless" facing her, "The eyes I saw of that 'dragon' spoke the words that he was never going to 'let it happen again' you... everyone else..." saying, "...What had happened for him to desperately want to be stronger to protect you?"

It was then that Erza Scarlet had told Knightwalker everything about how it all started, back in the Tower of Heaven, when Scarlet had first come to see the burning dragon inside of him. When Jellal Fernandez had set a trap to capture her and sacrifice her to revive the dark wizard, Zeref, and the battles that took place in order to stop his plan. That was when Knightwalker realized all the words that Dragneel had ever said to her, when they fought, after, during their training, and why he was so determined to be 'stronger' than the Titania. However, she also understood more why Scarlet was determined to keep the gap between them as big as they were. Though, it didn't surprise her that both of them had the same reason why they were so persistent to get stronger than the other. They had wanted to protect them, because they were terrified of ever seeing the other in the same kind of pain ever again. However, as much as she 'knew' that, she couldn't necessarily relate to them, as she always had been alone.

There was no one to protect her, and no one for her to protect, and because of it, she had no inkling of how it felt for others to easily give their love for another. How it felt for someone risking their lives to... well, maybe she had experienced it. Looking over at the two, him resting on top of her lap while she affectionately held him. Perhaps there was a time or two, they had done the same for her.

-[x]-

 _ **~Sixth day, Knightwalker's POV~**_

With the Interdimensional Viewing Device presumably being completed tomorrow, Team Natsu had decided to go on 'one last' job with their Edolas guest. It was only her her second job going on, but this was also her only time she had joined the full team, seeing as most Gray, Lucy, Wendy, and Charle weren't available at the time as Scarlet and Dragneel wanted to go on that S-Class job earlier in the week, plus, seeing as they had intended to have 'done it quick' but were interrupted by the arrival of 'another Levy' which delayed things for a time. Though, seeing as the 'full roster' was now here, the Team had decided that it would be fun to take on a 'relatively' easy quest, to satiate the Celestial who didn't want to do something 'terrifying' but also something 'somewhat fun' to satisfy the dragon slayer's desires.

Thus, the Team + Knightwalker were assigned to go and 'investigate' the people of a rural village with strange reports of 'disappearances'. The intel they had received was that it was a once populated village over a week ago, but slowly, its numbers were dwindling. Seeing as they had Erza Scarlet, an official S-Class Mage, Natsu Dragneel and Wendy Marvell, two dragon slayers, Gray Fullbuster, an Ice-make mage, and their guest, Erza Knightwalker, a person who once stood on even ground with the Titania, Lucy was a little relieved just in case the job would go south 'real' quick.

Though, as they made their way over to the village, they had noticed that what the intel reports had said was true. It was an odd foggy village, that hadn't a soul living in it. They could tell simply because it was as quiet as the night, and the two dragon slayers, who both have highly enhanced senses and smells, neither of them could really catch a whiff or any sign of any one living here. It was beginning to creep most of them out, namely the blonde celestial mage who huddle close to the middle as the scarlet haired knight led them further into the village. Usually, in her, Knightwalker's, experience, places like these were often desolated and left either due to bandits or raids, but the strange thing was, was that nothing seemed 'out of place', but rather just looked like it was abandoned. However, the further they made their way in, the worse the vibe would get.

Natsu and Wendy, dragon slayers, had a creeping disturbed look in their faces that more they walked in, drawing her concern. The young blue haired girl had a sickening look on her face the more she tried to ignore it, and the pinkette, looked as if he was about to break. "N-Natsu..." calling out to the older dragon slayer, "T-This... smell... do... do you think...?" she was terrified.

"Yeah... I smell it too Wendy..." confirming whatever feeling she was getting, "Everyone, stay close!" saying, "I don't... I don't like the smell of it" drawing the concern of everyone around them.

Listening in, they did as the dragon slayer said and bunched together a little more, keeping their eyes peeled for anything 'abnormal' of the sorts. They weren't sure what they were looking out for, but if the two dragon slayers were cautious or terrified, it was a note for concern. She even had to admit, she was starting to get a little creeped out too.

"There are so many homes..." the blonde had noted, "What happened to everyone? It looked like the place was just left in a hurry or something..." commenting.

Agreeing, the Titania followed, "That... or they were kidnapped" suggesting, "It's strange, just over a week ago, this was a place full of people, but slowly it was decreasing?" thinking about, "What could..."

"Damn it!" cutting her off, "Gray! Build up a dome around us, now!"

In a rush, the Ice-mage had used his 'ice-make' to create a thick dome of ice around the party as numerous explosions were set off around them, causing the ground to shake. It was a trap. As the dust began to clear, they were soon greeted by Dark Mages that were flocked to all over as much as they could, surrounding the party. Luckily, the 'Ice Dome' around them had just managed to survive the blasts, but it wasn't going to survive another one, which meant after another 'attack' they were going to have to get ready and attack the mages, thinking that they were related to the cause of disappearing people in the village. Gripping her Ten Commandments, everyone followed suit, getting ready to anticipate the next attack. Natsu had his flames burning and engulfing his fists, the Titania had 'requiped' into her 'Black Wing armor', Gray had readied himself for another, and Lucy, well, she was ready to call out a Celestial Spirit.

Just as they expected, though, another wave of explosions had occurred, and as soon as the explosions pierced through and destroyed the ice barrier that was around them, the follow-up had 'disappeared' or rather, the fire dragon slayer had consumed it all just as both a safety measure for his friends, but also keep him at 'top form'. Seizing this moment though, everyone had rushed in opposite directions, 'taking on' the dark mages head on. It was small, crapped, with all the houses around, it made it a little difficult to 'fight' properly, but with the way everyone was fighting, no one seemed to care all that much.

"Silfarion!" changing the tip of her spear into its triangular form, she rushed around the place, cutting down and avoiding some of the mages since they were all cramped together in the space. "Mel Force!" changing her spear tip once more, she launched a vicious torrent of air to opposite, knocking out some of the others before changing back into her previous spear and rushing back off before there was a chance to counter. It was her best best as she didn't want to accidentally catch anyone else in the midst of her own attack while doing her best to skillfully cleave down the other mages. After all, mage slaying was the specialty for the Fairy Hunter.

Dodging both on the ground and rising into the air, the Titania struck through once of the mages, cutting them down with a powerful attack, repeating the process as she went from one dark mage to another in a straight fashion, cutting them down as she could, while taking breaks here and there to avoid strikes from the other mages. Starting off, both dragon slayer's unleashed a combination roar, by releasing it at the same time, allowing the magic to 'meld and amplify' as they blasted through a small group of them before the fire dragon slayer jumped into the fray, his fists burning bright and large as he slammed his fists into one, kicking and crashing his heels into others with bursts of flames following suit. The Ice mage was managing himself quite well, as he had unleashed countless spears of ice towards the dark mages, trying to follow sync with the rest of the group. Lucy, having summoned the 'Leo' was able to help fend off any of the other other mages with its bright lights, though there was simply too many.

"Fire Dragon's... Roasting Bath!" saying to 'heck with it', the fire dragon slayer, summoned a massive array of flames burning around him, burning the mages around, or at least catching them off guard, while the Titania 'requiped' into her 'Flame Empress Armor' and quickly fell the ones that were in the general vicinity, allowing the pinkette to cut the magic before any one of the rest of them were caught on fire by accident. "Damn... there's just a lot of them... what is it, Dark Guild meetings?" saying as more of them began to pop up.

The team were doing its best, covering another when needed and attacking to get rid of the mages. And while she herself found there was little to no problem with what was happening something about the situation still didn't feel right. No matter how many times they cut down the mages, all them acting like they were 'waiting' or 'stalling' for something. They hadn't been trying nearly as hard as the dark mages she had fought almost a week ago, and she could tell because she remembered how 'terrified' they were when they encountered them after a while had passed. No, something was coming and it was probably the explanation of why the village was so empty.

"GOOOOUUGGHHHHHHHH...!" a loud bellow filled the place shaking the place with sound, stomping the battle just temporarily. No, it was something else that was causing all the shaking, "OOOUUGHHHH!" the sound was getting louder, as did the shaking of the head, as if a stampede was headed their way. Looking over, the dragon slayer's were trying to find the 'source' but with all the shaking and attacks all over the place, they were having a difficult time trying to pinpoint its location.

That was until from out of the forests, trees were tumbling, wrecking as something was bulldozing its way over with impeccable speed, continuing to shake the ground with its ferocious stomps, and loud spine chilling roars.. Before any of them had the proper time to react a large ten foot tall creature had emerged from the forest. Grotesque, it was as if a monster had melded with a man shown by its 'light humanoid features. It had a thick hide, seemingly from its tough and exoskeleton like exterior, with arms and legs both as large and thick as the log of a tree. It had a deformed terrifying facial detail and cuffed chains breached around its wrists and ankles. The terrifying thing was that for as long as it was, it had managed to not only wrecked though the forest in a straight line, but it had came out of 'nowhere', meaning it was as fast as it was powerful, and none of them wanted to assess how much that was.

In it's unbound rage, it smashed aside several of the Dark Mages in its path before running rampant around the area. Before any of them could properly react, as well as being occupied with whatever mages that were left, the creature in question had rushed its path, knocking and smacking aside the mages like dolls with no discernible path. Friend. Foe. This thing had no ally and did simply as it please, and in terror, the group didn't know what to do. This was clearly far out of an A-Class job.

As the beast came charging toward the ice-mage, he unleashed a trails of risings ice spikes towards the creature "Damn it... what is that th-" however it merely 'rammed' through the pricks of ice like they were no problem before 'smacking' into the ice mage up, before smashing its fist against him, flinging him striaght against one of the houses.

"Happy! Charle! Get Wendy and Lucy out of-" before he could finish, the fire dragon slayer was the 'second' to get smacked aside by the creature. With a single hit, he was shot off through some of the houses, wrecking through them before crashing up against a tree that broke his inertia.

Angered, the Titania's face was red with fury, "Natsu! Gray!" boiling, she requiped into her 'Purgatory Armor' seething with with armor of a demon, carrying a massive blade, she gripped it tightly before rushing over, "Aaah!" in her rage, she struck the creature, but to no avail, and as such, the creature had sent her flying back with a punch. Luckily as she was wearing armor, the damage wasn't that bad, but it was still enough to temporarily stun her as she tried to get back up to try again.

Even the Titania's mightiest blade wasn't able to put as much as a 'scratch' on the creature. However, as it set its sight on the blonde, it began to charge with all its might, the mage too scared to move. Gritting her teeth, she didn't want to just stand there, thinking it would 'dirty' her reputation had she just stood there and done nothing. That was why, as she switched into 'Silfarion', she rushed over with her speed and tackled the blonde to the ground, allowing the creature to rush straight into one of the houses. Blindly rampaging, the creature had thrashed about, smashing and destroying everything with relative ease as it preyed around.

Making its way around, it set its sights onto the young dragon slayer, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" a violent stream of flames blazed through the creature eliciting a light scream, "You guys, get out of here!" he shouted at them, battered from just the single blow. "I'll draw its attention, so just leave! Go get help, I don't care WHO you guys get, just get someone!" Natsu was a mage who 'didn't want' or like to ask the help of his guild mates, but even he could assess in this situation that this was no time to be full of himself. Fear had sunk into him after seeing that this monster could do, and he wasn't going to risk the lives of his friends for something as stupid as pride.

"..." biting her lip, the Titania swallowed her sense and 'requiped' into her 'Heaven's Wheel Armor', "Fine...!" with Happy carrying Lucy, Charle carrying Wendy, she herself flew over and picked up the unconscious ice-mage, "We'll be back! I swear, Natsu, you BETTER not die..." even she knew it was a bad idea, but the dragon slayer knew that Gray needed to get out of here and that flying would be the fastest way to leave.

The dragon slayer was doing his best, keeping the monster distracted so that his friends could leave, "Heh... there's no way I would..." smirking, the pinkette was getting just warmed up as his fists were blazing with flames, "Fire Dragon's Flaming Iron Fist: Piercing Claw Rev.!..." saying, jumped towards it, he struck with a fiery straight, burning bright flames that had flared and rapidly condensed, pushing it back just a little, "-...Redux.!" with his other arm the same had happened, and with another strong 'whack' the creature was knocked back another couple feet. However, his hands had left a little singe as he tried to 'shake off the pain', "Heh... damn... you're one tough bastard aren't ya..." saying with a cocking grin, "Well... I just gotta buy time... that can't be too hard... but... there's always a first time for everything..." before he could prepare, he was already avoiding attacks from Dark Mage's that had managed to survive through it, but they were too occupied with not getting struck by the monster itself. "Damn it!"

"Silfarion!" rushing through in a fast blur, "Explosion!" in the midst of her 'rush', Knightwalker had set off several explosions by cutting and causing the 'point' of contact to explode in a fiery combust, "Eat up, Dragneel!" saying as she ran around, lighting up the place in bursts of fire, getting rid of the Dark Mage's and stunning the massive creature.

Seizing this opportunity, Natsu had open wide and 'consumed' all the fiery explosions around, replenishing his magic, "Thanks for the meal" grinning, he wiped his mouth, "But what are you still doing here?!..-Damn it!" unable to keep himself distracted for long, he blocked at the last second, a heavy strike from the terrifying creature. It had taken both his arms to block just a single hand, and as he had, the weight of the strike was enough to smash him an inch into the ground with each consecutive hit, "You need to-" before he could finish, the creature had kicked him like a rubber ball, flinging him off.

"Because, if I hadn't you'd be dead!" swooping him, she broke his fall. He was battered the more he had tried to 'resist' against the monster, "This is a waiting game, remember? Don't tell me you plan to 'wait out' by fighting it head on!" lecturing him in Scarlet's place.

Getting up, "I have to!" telling her as he forced himself up, "Crap!" grabbing onto her, he jumped out of their previous spot, using the fire from his legs to propel himself. Just as he had, the monster had dropped, wrecking the spot they were just in "As you can seee-" rolling from another strike, "This isn't the best...-" tossing her to the side he grabbed another strike 'head-on' as the impact broke him into the ground a couple feet, "-...Place to be!" grunting, the weight of the strike was being to crush him. It was then the creature latched one, pounding him into the ground before throwing them towards Knightwalker once more, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" despite being pummeled, he unleashed a violent slew of flames once more.

"Mel Force!" unleashing a violent vortex of wind, Knightwalker struck in the attempt to 'mix' with his flames and increase the damage, something she observed when she watched him and the other dragon slayer fought. "Don't tell me what to do!" telling him as she broke his fall once more.

However, they both watched the creature shriek and thrash around in pain the two of them caught on to something. It was strange the had noticed that Erza's 'powerful' armor had no effect on the monster despite how immense her strength was with it, yet when Natsu used his flames it was reacting to it. Furthermore, when she had combined her 'Mel-Force' that had seemed to do more damage as well, thinking it was because her wind had amplified the dragon slayers breath attack. That was when it came to their attention that, for whatever the reason was, this monster was 'weak' against against fire, at least that was what they got. Although, the pinkette's condition was barely hanging on, having to save Knightwalker's life more than once and taking on a lot of physical beatings from this 'monster'. His breath was getting rough, thinking that perhaps there wasn't much he could take before 'kicking the bucket'. And well, for some reason she didn't think she could see that.

"Dragneel..." catching his attention, "I'm going to distract it" telling him, "While I do that, I want you to leave and regroup with Scarlet..." getting up alongside him, "Thank you... for..." shaking her head she simply pulled him in with one arm, "We're not the kind of people who 'express' with words" pushing him away, "Now go... You don't wanna make 'baby' Scarlet cry, right?" passing a light wink to him.

Stumbling as he rose, "It's fine!" arguing with her, "I can-" slumping a little, "I'll just eat more fire!...Then we can-" it was getting hard for him to breathe, let alone move.

"It's only going to give you 'energy'" telling him, "Your physical body would break if it handles any more stress... now I don't wanna argue anymore,-'Silfarion'!-" changing her spear tip once more, "-Let this 'outcast' finally do somethin' helpful without being told to".

Before he had a chance to complain to her, in a blur she had rushed off, doing her best to set off as many 'explosions' as possible to get the monsters attention and lead him away, distracting him so that the pinkette would make his escape. She was already worn, having using it earlier in the fight against the dark mages, and while she had 'used a magic weapon' her physical state was still worn from using Silfarion a lot in such a short time. Her magic weapon and skill was what made her 'as strong as Titania' but it wasn't like it was just her weapon. The way her weapon worked was a lot like the dragon slayer's, meaning her physical body still had a limit. Though, it didn't bother her. All she had to do was last long enough so that the pinkette was as far away as needed, and then she could stop. It was just unfortunate that she had to be 'close' in order to set off her explosions if she wanted to catch it off guard and 'hurt' it.

Rushing around it with her speed, she did her best to 'avoid' its wild strikes, and would dive in from behind with 'Explosion', quickly changing back to 'Silfarion' just before she was caught up in the blast herself. Her plan was working, for the most part, she could hear the creature withering and roaring in pain, as she 'ducked' under the wild strikes if it interfered with her. Again and again, more explosions would be set off as the creature continued to scream, thrashing around violently, and soon, she was starting to get light burns from her own attacks.

It wasn't until the blasts from one of her 'explosions' had knocked her off pace, throwing her off, and before she knew it "...-Shi-" with a single violent thrash, the monsters hand had sent her flying, tearing her body with pain, and her Ten Commandments flying alongside her. Forcing her body, she broke her own fall as she tumbled, getting back into position, "Magic Cannon!" changing her attack, her spear lit and changed completely once more into a large shoulder-mounted cannon. Bracing herself, "Fire!" she launched a massive blast of magic, tearing through the grounds and the houses, crashing into the monster. It had no effect. She knew that much, but still. "Fire!" launching more at the creature, her body felt the recoil from each massive consecutive shot. "That's right fat ass... I'm right here".

"AUOUGHHH!" Annoyed from all the 'hits' it was taking, it blocked it with its massive forearm and grabbed the nearest thing and flung it straight at her.

Having seen what happened, she instead blasted the object that it had thrown at her and came charging through behind it, kicking her with the same force it had with everything else. This was the second hit she received, and it felt like everything had been whacked out of her. Breathing had ceased for a moment, as everything fell into light shock. She must have crashed into something, as she felt her self 'stationary' but her body was far worse than when she had sparred with the dragon slayer. Just being able to breath again, her mind started slipping a little as she watched the monster, in a fury, thrash and rampage towards her.

Alone, she was an orphan who was left on the cold streets of Edolas. Their King at the time was a man hungry for magic, hungry for power, and likewise, that was what she had to do if she wanted to survive. She had 'cut' herself away from anything that would hinder her way for gaining that power and recognition. It was the only way she knew how to survive and live in that world. With no questions asked, she killed people that 'opposed' such rules, those who were a 'threat' to her power. And namely, a lot of those she had taken were from 'Edolas Fairy Tail'. That was how she became the 'Fairy Hunter'. Because no one stood in her path, not even 'Fairy Tail'.

As it closed in on her, it began to strike violently around, knowing she had met her end, she was at least glad she was able to do something 'good', probably to make up for killing all those people from Edo Fairy Tail. Smiling, "Eat this, bastard..." gripping her Ten Commandments firmly, she stood up, "Blue Crimson!". Her spear then split into two, both having the same triangular shaped tip. However, the one bursting with fire had red ornaments in its tip, with the one expelling ice had blue.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" crashing in, the dragon slayer, forced a punch with both hands, catching her off guard. "Thanks for the meal, Erza..." smiling. Wondering what he had met, she was a tad distracted to have realized he called her 'Erza', as all the flames from her spear was being consumed limitless by the dragon slayer. In a Magic rich world, there was no such as 'depletion' so he could feast all he wanted.

However, he was caught off as the creature had whacked him with its strength, throwing him back. "You idiot! I told you to leave!" struggling, her body was still sore.

"Yeah... see..." saying as he threw himself back into the fight, "Fire Dragon's Flaming Iron Fist!-Redux!" both of his hands and forearms lit and burst into flames as they rapidly condensed. Bursting with flames since he was 'refueled' he forced himself to 'catch' the strike from one arm of the creature, "She calls me an idiot too..." with the other he caught the other one. Somewhere, he could feel his arms starting to grow weak already from the monster's immense strength. The ground under him started caving in the more the monster forced its strength on him, "Knightwalker... Scarlet..." being kicked by the monster, as if it was trying to get him to 'let go' from his burning and flaming fists, he dealt with it as best he could, "I don't... freakin' care... at all" forcing to 'turn up' the flames, "I promised... never to let 'Erza' cry! I promised I'd protect her-" crippling under, he forcefully fed himself more 'fire' to continue on, "-Because..."

Her eyes opened as she remembered their 'bout' and all of his 'anger' thrown behind every punch he struck her with. '-I have to! To protect those I care about!'. She watched as he fire around him burned hotter like that night, to a point she began to feel weary and sweat. The feeling inside she got when she watched him 'force' himself to be stronger, the flaming dragon that was breaking out of its cage. More and more as he fought back, the burning scales etched and crept onto his face, alongside his arms passed the torn sleeves, before, the fear inside her took hold like it had, and in front of her was a 'flaming dragon' erupting flames as it battled the monster.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art - Fire Dragon's Eruption!" roaring, around him flames burst around the two before a mighty inferno erupted from the ground, and the monster was screaming in pain far more than she had heard before. In it's fury, Natsu was knocked out of the burning inferno before launching himself back into it, consuming 'more' from the Edolas Erza's 'Blue Crimson', he propelled himself forward with flames from his feet '"Dragon Slayer Secret Art - Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!"" throwing his battered and scaled arm he knocked it back a couple feet with a massive explosion, "-Redux.!" with his other he knocked it another few feet before finding a footing and launching himself straight forward.

However, just as he had, the creature was about to strike, much to his lack of 'thinking'. Though, flying straight across next to him was the 'burning' spear that had belonged to Edolas Erza, piercing the shoulder of the monster and pulling his punch back, "I'm not a princess, Dragneel!" huffing with her breath, annoyed with herself. "I don't need protecting!"

"Heh..." smiling a little to himself, he poured all he had, "Fire Dragon's Flaming horn!" his body lit and engulfed in fire, and rammed his head straight into the creature, throwing it back before falling onto the ground.

Rushing over, "Dragneel!" picking him up, she could tell his body was at its definite limit as the 'scales' began to slowly fade. Withering in pain the creature had yet to give up, as it tore the spear out and threw it straight at them, "Damn it..." holding him tightly, she closed her eyes. Though, the roaring had only increased but wasn't approaching, and the blade had yet to reach her. Curious, she slowly opened her eyes to see something in front of her, and as she opened her eyes, there was a person with a full set of armor.

It was Erza Scarlet, in her 'Heaven's Wheel Armor' and in front of her were three others, a demonic looking woman with flared up white hair, and the 'wild' man she had seen earlier. In short, Mirajane and Gajeel had come and 'restrained' the beast from moving even closer with a little 'assist' from Pantherlily in his full grown form. Using metal and dark magic the two of them had thrown everything to assure the monster wouldn't move anymore, only the sounds of his growling in frustration had happened. Looking around, she had noticed the Titania had 'knocked' aside the thrown spear and had handed it to her, and as she realized what she was doing, quickly dropped Natsu on the ground in exchange for her spear, ignoring anything of the sort had happened.

"You look horrible..." the first thing Scarlet had said, "Both of you,... why is it I always find the two of you beaten beyond compare?" asking with a light sigh. "Though..." Smiling a little soft she placed a hand on her shoulder, "Thank you... for protecting Natsu" saying.

Rushing in, McGarden had come by, "A Berseker?! I didn't want to believe it but...damn..." saying with an urgent face, "You guys are lucky this seems to still be growing!" telling them with a dark look on her face.

"How do we kill it?" the scarlet knight had asked the doppel, "My blade didn't-"

Struggling, the dragon slayer tried to get up, "Fire..." telling her, "Fire works... but..."

"Not necessarily" telling them, the monster trying harder to 'break' out, "Fire melts the tough hide, but after we can get rid of it before it heals itself..." mentioning, "Meaning, when Mira and Gajeel 'let' go of it, I need you, Natsu, to unleash another roar, can you do that?" asking.

Breathing heavy, Scarlet had helped him up, "Not really... but... Erza can help... right?" asking, she nodded.

"I'll use my Flame Empress and 'amplify' his flames" she said, 'requiping' into said armor, "Are you ready, Natsu?" asking. With a nod and a smile, she felt assured before turning to Gajeel and Mira, "Gajeel! Mira! Attack it when Natsu and I light it up!" telling them.

Nodding, "Got it!" the demon of Fairy Tail agreed.

"Fire dragon's...Roar!" Natsu bellowed, released and pouring all of his magic into his 'final' massive stream of flames.

Following suit, Erza's sword began to swirl and mix with fire before she released another stream of flames to mix and meld with the pinkette's flames. "Mel Force!" Knightwalker had added, as she merged both spears back into one and changed it before unleashing a massive vortex of wind, mixing and melding with their flames, greatly amplifying the attack.

The two restraining the monster had felt the massive heat making their way and immediately got out of the way, watching the massive wave of flames wash over the monster. And in its cries, the two followed on through with their 'own' attack.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!" Gajeel said, attacking from one side, unleashing a massive stream of 'metal' magic.

Gathering immense darkness, she flew above, "Soul Extinction!" saying as she unleashed a massive blast of dark magic, easily punching a massive hole in the ground.

With the combined strikes from all party's, the five of them were finally able to 'defeat' the strange monster from seemingly McGarden's world, and had allowed the two who 'kept' it busy to finally fall into rest. They watched as the scales on Natsu's face and body had finally disappeared, assuming it was on the brink of completely vanishing before the spell had ended. Whether or not it played a role in helping them defeat the monster, they were glad at the least it was there to 'stave' off just long enough before they had arrived. Holding him tightly against her, she was glad that they were able to get there and back before it was too late. Taking the Ten Commandments from Knightwalker's hands, she smiled at her a little before 'sending it' to her spatial storage, just so that it was easier and she didn't need to worry about looking for it when she woke. Either way, they had to take them back to the guild for Wendy to heal, and so they could rest up the rest of the way. Natsu was carried by Erza, after a 'light' argument between her and Mira, but with much coercion, and urgency, convinced her to take Knightwalker as Lily took both Gajeel and McGarden back.

-[x]-

 _ **~Several Days Later..., Erza Scarlet's POV~**_

Days had passed since the fight with that monster, and since then the two, Natsu Dragneel and Erza Knightwalker, had been asleep in the guild infirmary to recover. They had thought it would be easier since they asked Polyruscia for helped to see if anything needed to be tended to, and so that Wendy could do her best to 'heal' them as much as she could. All they needed now was rest, and that was what they had given to them. Gray managed to make it out fine, as he was taken earlier one after just a couple hits, but the two had suffered far more damage from both it and the Dark Mages previously. McGarden had explained they were fairly lucky it was 'just' the Berserker and that it wasn't even fully grown, though how it snuck and made its way into this world she didn't know, however, she was just glad her friends from this world was just fine. Even if they didn't want to, everyone was given a 'slight' glimpse into the world that she had lived, and they began to realize just how much stronger they needed to be. Another thing had come to attention, since the IVD was completed, both McGarden and Erza Knightwalker would be going home.

A little worried, Erza had tried to keep herself a little distracted with what she could do at the guild, not wanting to be too far away until the two of them had woken back up. It wasn't serious, but it had been a good while since they had been conscious, namely, they had been asleep since the battle was over, both of them worn out from their 'battle'. She couldn't deny that she was glad that Knightwalker was there for him, because if it were left with just him, there was no way he could have made it out as well as he did, though, another thing came to her attention. Natsu had 'unlocked' Dragon Force from pure will. Even if it was anger that brought it about, there was no doubt that with proper training, he could likely summon it at will and provide a major asset in the future of battles.

"Something wrong, Erza?" catching her attention was the bar-maid, the eldest Strauss sister, "You've been a little 'out of it' since we brought them back" she mentioned.

Sighing, she rested up against the bar, "It's nothing" telling her, not wanting to get 'her' involved of all people, "It's just a little depressing to be seeing McGarden and Knightwalker to be leaving all of a sudden" she said. It wasn't a total lie. After the long time they've spent together, whether it was good or bad, it was still a little fun for her to 'have a twin' around, especially since she and Natsu finally got a long. "And with the S-Class promotions coming up..." a little tired, "I just wanna be in bed with Natsu..." stretching out, inadvertedly stating that aloud.

"Yeah... he's warm isn't he?" agreeing with a light blush on her cheeks as she 'fawned' over a memory, or at least the impression she was giving, "Just the perfect thing in the cold-"

Before she could finish, Erza had pointed a blade at her, darting a dark look at her, "Say one more word, Demon, and I'll have you..." tensing her glare further, "Natsu is **mine** so paws off, she-demon!" threatening out the demon.

"Oh my... didn't you hear 'other' Levy?" smiling, not feeling a bit of fear from her friend, "Natsu and I 'express' our love and affections for each other so open~"

Twitching, "That's the other Natsu!" correcting her, "My Natsu is 'mine' and 'mine' only" firming her stance.

"Oh?" smiling she transformed into her 'Satan Soul', "I don't mind 'fighting' you over him. That way I could save 'my' precious little dragon" saying as she gather mass of darkness in her hand.

The two of them locked contact with another, trying to out pressure the other with their flaring magic. Though, as they did, they couldn't help but hear a little laughter breaking out, and as they turned, it was McGarden, who looked like she was already to go. Deciding to 'put' it on hold, the two of them 'dispelled' their feud in sake of the 'other' Levy, as they had wanted to send her off properly, and not have to fight as a last reminder of her. She was showing the ropes of how the 'IVD' worked since she and Natsu of 'her world' both perfected it and managed to get it working for the two of them. Aside from the two in the infirmary, they all gathered as they went to 'see' off the other Levy.

"Well... I guess this is goodbye" McGarden had said. "Jet,... Droy.." Looking over at them, "I'm... really happy to have spent all this time with you both" saying with a cheering smile, "I'm glad this 'accident' had happened... It's... been really tough" saying.

Popping up front, Mira had handed her a box, "Pictures~" she said, handing over the box, "I have a copy in storage, so... if you ever want or need a copy, just phone us, all right?" saying with a smile.

"...How'd you get photo's?" Erza had asked, looking at her a little suspicious, "I mean... you weren't-"

Cheerfully, she simply answered her friend, "Oh Erza,.. Erza" patting her head in a 'looking down on manner', something that easily irritated the Titania, "I'm the one who helps Natsu with his 'Wall of Memories'" telling her, "So of COURSE I'd have developed some skills over the time".

"he he..." giggling a little, she then faced Gajeel and Levy, "Gajeel... you BETTER protect those two, hear me?" lightly 'ordering' him, "If you don't, you're gonna make Levy here cry, and you wouldn't want that, would you?" smiling, despite the iron dragon slayer a little annoyed and blushed, "And Levy..." catching her attention, "Be careful what universes you pop in on okay?" she told her, "If you EVER... need me, look for Universe '137-C' that's the FT in my world. '551-G' is THIS FT, and so when you send Edolas Erza back, since they're our 'opposite', it'll be 115-T" reminding her her, "Uh... though before you do anything, make sure you're just 'viewing' just to make sure, okay?"

A little dizzy, she was hastily writing this all down, "Yes... got it!" though, she soon began to cry before rushing over to hug her 'doppel', "You be safe okay?!" beginning to cry, "Tell Gajeel and Natsu they better make sure you're all right or else... I dunno... i'll somehow beat them into the ground".

"I will... no worries" smiling, she returned the embrace, "Now... take care everyone!" waving, she flipped on the IVD, and after punching in the universe she needed to go, a glowing green light began to crackle and pop before a large rectangle had appeared, "Be careful! We'll always be in touch so don't take this as 'goodbye'!" reminding them before she jumped through, and the light had faded. Like that, 'Levy McGarden' from Universe 137-C had finally returned home, all that was left was Knightwalker.

Sighing, it was so strange that 'just like that' everything was back to the way it was, well, not entirely, but still. There was a strange emptiness in the air that began to fill the room that was a little noticeable by all. Even Team Shadow Gear, having had to see their 'other' Levy return to a world where they had passed was a little sad, but they had decided to use that motivation to do all they could to assure 'their' Levy didn't have to go through the same. Though, she still couldn't help but wonder if she would feel the same after 'sending off' her Edolas Counterpart.

"I'm going to go check on them..." Erza had said before making her way to the infimary, "It's a little 'odd' without them around..." feeling a little solemn.

Truth was, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with him and her doppel, as the moment Knightwalker would be feeling fine, would be the moment she would leave back to Edolas. There was so much she had hoped to talk to her about, things they could do, and while she understood why things were in the first moment when she arrived, she felt a little sadden that their time was cut far shorter than they had assumed. A part of her was hoping that perhaps there was some convincing she could do to get her Edolas counter-part to stay. Honestly, her training Natsu was perhaps something great that came out of it, and with the three of them in the guild, there wasn't much that could stand up against Fairy Tail. Everything just seemed a 'positive' when she began to think of all the good that could come out of having 'another her' here, but it would be up to her doppel to make that decision, and the look on her face the last times she had seen her made it seem like she was just looking forward to going home. Hopefully, at least today would be the day that they would wake up, after all, it had been a while.

-[x]-

 _ **~A Few Moment's earlier..., Knightwalker's POV~**_

The last she could see before falling unconscious was the burning mesh and the lingering gap in the ground where that 'monster' had been, and then, her mind had shut down. From what she could remember, she and Natsu were fighting this gargantuan of a monster, and just before she thought their 'end' had come, the reinforcements had arrived had saved them from a horrible death. After that, the fight had happened, and that was it. She was flung into a sea of darkness, roaming and drifting along in the pitch black. Holding herself, a sense of comfort she had at least wanted to give herself, she wandered and drifted in the endless abyss.

It was cold, a chill that she could relate and recognize most of her life. A form of power that she took and made it a drive so that she could 'rise up' against and fight the endless battle to uphold that fight. Though, she began to find a spec of warmth, and as it spread, the cold dark world that enveloped her began to crack. Within the cracks a burning mesh of flames roared through as metal blade began to 'crash' against the cracks, breaking it more as a burst of flames shattered the 'abyss' and from it, a roaring flaring dragon with bladed scales and wings broke free, burning and illuminating the entire place in a flare of warmth.

Rushing up from her sleep, she felt a cool sweat around her, as a light pain shot through her body. Wincing, she fell back a little and looked around, wondering what and where she was. As far as she could tell, she was in some room, full of beds and people, and looking down, she had noticed that her body had been lightly bandaged. Her mind was a little foggy, and as she trying to 'focus' it was disturbed by a loud sleeper, bursting her bubble, and as she turned her attention to face the source, she had noticed that it was Natsu Dragneel, passed out and sleeping like he hadn't in such a long time. Then, it all began to come back to her in a rush. He had saved her, on more than one occasion against her will. And while she hadn't asked or wanted any of it, he had willingly thrown himself in front of danger just to protect her. Because she is 'Erza'.

"Dragneel..." saying in a low voice. In him, she could still see the roaring flames that bathed him as the ferocity and feeling of a dragon rushed out of him, "..." He was reckless, stupid, brash. Well, she could list a lot of the things she found that was 'wrong' with him, in fact, it was easier to just go straight to the Titania as she said the same thing. However, he was strong. Even if he hadn't bested her in their fight, she knew neither of them had even tried, and the more she thought about it, she didn't think she would make it out as she had when they 'fought'.

Without wasting a moments thought, she made her way out of the bed, bearing with what little pain that was still surging through her body and made her way over to him. It wouldn't be long until she had to go home, and she would be rid of this infer-. No, that wasn't the right word. Before, she would have thought they were 'annoying' with how precious and open they were about their 'love'. But with what she had experience, she understood completely now the words behind what Scarlet had told her that day. Love was what made Dragneel strong. Though, it wasn't in the 'literal' sense. He could have all the love in the world, but it was what he did with it that love. It was what they all did with it.

"..." Thinking for a moment, she watched as he peacefully slept. There was a lot of things she wanted to do. Hit him for being stupid and careless, crush him for 'treating her like she needed saving', or torture him for getting as injured as he did. However, there was only one thing of her options that had made sense. "Dragneel... wake up" calling out to him. However, she wasn't getting a response. Feeling a little annoyed, she tried once more. "Dragneel. Wake. UP!" adding an 'incentive' she reached over and closed his nose, suffocating him partially.

After a short while, he woke up in a sudden action "AGH-What the..." reeling in from the pain radiating all over his body, "aaccckkk-" feeling the pain get to him he fell back to the bed, looking up to see Edolas Erza standing, dulling her gaze wondering if 'he was done' with his little 'wake up'. "Oh... Erza..." commenting, "Whatchu' want..." though it had dawned to him suddenly, "Wh..." rising up he looked around, stifling the pain just barley, "Did we win...?"

"I'm assuming so" telling him, "Though, if we hadn't I'm sure we wouldn't be waking up" bluntly reminding him.

Thinking for a moment he fell back to the ground, "I see..." thinking aloud, "How're you feeling?" looking up at her, he smiled a bit.

"...I'm fine" a little annoyed for some reason, "It's still a little painful... but I think by tomorrow I'll be fine" she told him, "Then... I'll be on my way home... assuming that your Levy with the 'other' had fixed that machine like they said they would" reminding him.

Yawning just a little, he fell a little silent, looking, thinking. "Really going back home?" asking, popping the question as he faced her, "You know... you could always stay here. Stay with 'this' Fairy Tail like Mystogan did" suggesting, "I mean it'll be cool and fun!" getting a little excited. "We can fit the house... we can train... you and Erza can be Erza's... uh... what else... Oh! The promotional exam is coming up, we can-"

"Dragneel" calling out to him, cutting him off. "I'm going home" telling him firmly. It was what they had agreed on back when they first her over to the house, "Besides... there's really no other point in me being here" she began to say, "There's a place back there... where I was born... perhaps to see in a 'new light'" telling him, "Though... I am grateful... for you and Scarlet's... hospitality".

It was that she sat onto his bed, and looked at him a little intensely. Piercing her own eyes through his own as she leered him back into the back of the bed, "Uh... 'other' Erza..." saying... feeling perhaps a little terrified, "What are you-"

"..." cutting him off she closed his mouth with her hand. "Listen. I want you to understand perfectly what I'm going to say" digging her gaze into his, "I. Do not. Love you" saying it perfectly so he understood clearly, "You have a perfectly loving 'Erza' here" reminding him, "Who is open and loves to display how she feels" she continued on, "That could never be me" stating, "I've lived far too long... cold... distant... thus anything involving 'romance' does not suit me" reminding him, "However..." letting go of his mouth, "What happens here... is because I simply just want to 'thank you' Dragneel, for everything... and furthermore, so that I-...You'll never forget what lovely person 'Scarlet' is".

As she left the baffled dragon slayer, she was a little hesitant about what she was going to do. The thought of being this close to another person had never dawned to her in her life, nor did she ever think she could ever meet someone she deemed even the slightest 'respectable'. Well, there was 'Erza Scarlet', but when it came to her doppelganger, she had no doubt that her 'other' would be as strong and respectable as herself. That was already a given. Though, perhaps there was something more of life she had to think of exploring, and in order to do that, she couldn't stay longer. Hesitant, just a little, she decided to finally get through with it, and as the confused dragon slayer watched, baffled, she had gotten up from the bed, and slowly began to open the blanket of his so that there was space for her.

She had to admit it was a little painful to move as she did, but this was a decision she had decided to go through. Luckily there weren't that many bandages, but as she began to feel around for the clip of her belt, she heard a loud 'slam' of the door, as if someone was annoyed. "Hm?" curious, she had looked over to see someone, "Oh... it's just you Scarlet". Standing there was her Earth Land counterpart, red with anger as she clutched onto her massive blades.

"W-What do you mean it's JUST me?!" furious, her face darkened in rage, "and WHAT are you doing!?" raising the blade towards her counterpart.

Curious, she looked at her a little odd, "It's obvious" telling her straight, "I'm going to fuck Dragneel" forcing the Titania into a massive flustered state, "I've assumed you've..." however the more she talked about it, the redder her face had gotten. It was then a sadistic smile crept onto her face, "Oh... well I'm going to enjoy this then" saying before turning to Dragneel, "Good. So it will be a worthwhile memory after all".

"Like HELL it's going to be a memory!" enraged, the Titania 'requiped' into her 'Heaven's Wheel Armor', summoning a massive array of blades along with her, all pointed at her Edolast counterpart, "I will not allow such in-...Indecency! In this guild!" proclaiming, despite the red in her face burning darker than her hair.

The poor dragon slayer was still a little clueless as to what was going on. All he did know, what was 'his' Erza was steaming, far more than he had ever seen in her the years she's known him. And as the Titania 'threw' her back the Fairy Hunter's Ten Commandments, the two of them began to 'fight' it out here in the middle of the infirmary, over something he didn't get what was going to happen. Either way, he did try to enjoy seeing the two Erza's 'get along' for the last time, as when it was all over Knightwalker would be going home. Though, as he was busy thinking of all the training he could do to beat and surpass Gildarts, the two of them darted their eyes at him for not paying attention, and much to his protest, they both jumped at him with the thought of fighting each other and getting him included, seeing as he wasn't doing anything to help 'solve the situation'. Honestly, seeing the two of them 'fiercely' competing and looking to him to do something about it, he just felt a little more terror as his body was still in pain from earlier, and to be fair, he was still having a hard time fighting 'one' Erza, let alone two.

-[x]-

The next day had come by, and eventually the three of them had somewhat managed to make their way out of the infirmary, having slept the entire night after fighting the previous day. Everything was still more or less painful for either her or Dragneel to move, but for the most part, it was enough for her to manage walking, more or less, certainly far less. It certainly didn't help that despite the pain she was already from the battle against the monster, the battle between her and Scarlet had further wrecked her, Though she couldn't necessarily say the same for her counterpart, who was matched the color of her hair with the flustered state on her face. Using her 'mock battle' rules, the thing she and Dragneel had agreed upon, he was forced to carry her to the guild hall, hopefully to ignore the faces everyone was going to give her. She couldn't lie to say that she was a Strong. Proud. Respectable. Member of the S-Class in Fairy Tail, and it was that reason she liked to somewhat uphold that status among her guild mates. Basically, she had always tried, more or less, to keep her and his relationship, to something to just between the two of them.

It wouldn't have been long, however, that Mirajane, the eldest Strauss sibling had seen them walk on through, and with the usual 'devious' smirk of hers, assumed what was going to happen. They had crossed eyes, knowing that this was going to be the last time they saw another before Edolas Erza would make her way back home, and honestly, she wouldn't have minded crossing paths with this woman in battle. She had seen, what little she remembered, the power of her 'Satan Soul', and thus, had immensely had the utmost respect for her, which is why it was a light shame that they would never be able to cross paths again to see 'who was superior'. Regardless, perhaps she should have gotten to know this person a little better in all the time they had left.

"So are you going home then?" cheerfully smiling as usual. From what she remembered, there was not particularly, 'good' about it, namely because no one could tell whether or not she was being genuine or faking it. In what little time she had, there wasn't too much she could say was particularly bad, surely knew how to cook, not that she could say that about Scarlet. "It's a shame, I was hoping to fight the famous 'Fairy Hunter' before she left,... though" somehow her face got cheerier, if that was even possible, "...I'll just have to take it all out on Scarlet over there".

A little lost... "What are you..." a little baffled, her mind shot as the silver haired bar-maid showed her a batch of photos. Suddenly, a twitch full of anger peeked through, "...I see why Scarlet despises you now..."

"Aww... don't say that~" with a chipper attitude, "Well... I guess this'll have to do~"

Before she could understand what had happened, the demon of Fairy Tail had taken out a stamp, "Don't Even-" before she could finish her train of though, the she-demon had transformed into her 'Satan Soul', and in a blinding flash, rushed up to her with the stamp out before backing off and reverting to normal, "Wha- What did you..." looking down, her eyes paled as she realized that just above her right breast, just next to her collarbone and shoulder, was a medium sized 'Fairy Tail' guild stamp colored black, "...! The hell, Demon!" shouting at her.

"There~" saying with a cheery look on her face, "Now you will forever be known as the 'person' who was so easily defeated by yours truly~" sweetly telling her before marching off, "Levyy~~ Your new subject is here!"

Furious didn't even describe to imagine what Knightwalker was feeling at the moment. From the very beginning up to the very end she was 'specifically' clear that she wasn't going to join the dragon slayer's 'silly little gang', especially since he told her he wasn't going to force her to join regardless of whether he won or lost the mock battle, despite the fact they had tied. However, this was completely unaware to the dragon slayer and Titania who was off trying to explain why he was carrying her, usually the excuses being 'He's mine, so he's SUPPOSED to do things like this for me' despite rubbing her cheek against him with love. The worst was going to be when he'd come up and see the guild stamp, even though she had stated, she wasn't going to join.

"Woah! that's so cool!" the pinkette had said, fueling her rage, "I thought you said you weren't gonna stay though..." blankly looking at her, wondering if he had missed something.

Narrowing her gaze, darkening a glare at him, "I'm not" crushing his hopes for a final time, "That... That demon caught me off guard..." a little peeved she wasn't keep track of her like that, "Either way, she had gone off to look for that mage with that device" bringing them back to topic.

"I see..." he had figured, "Well... we're gonna miss you, Erza" he told her with a light smile, "No worries, I'm gonna keep training till I definitely can beat you" passing her of an arrogant smile, "Then I'll beat that 'other' Natsu and Gildarts, you can count on it".

Returning such smile, she crossed her arms, "Oh? You better, Dragneel" stating, "I didn't wanna tell you this, but Scarlet over there was telling me 'she preferred' that Dragneel for how powerful he was" lying to him, "You wouldn't wanna lose your precious Scarlet 'cause you hit like a bitch... right?" riling him up.

"Wh-What!? you said that?!" saying as he looked at her a little panicked, "Well, don't you both worry! I'm gonna be so strong you guys won't know what hit you!" fired up.

Dulling her eyes at him, Scarlet flicked his forehead, "She's lying" correcting him, "You know I don't care about that... Though..." thinking a little, she looked over at Knightwalker who was glaring, as if she was trying to hide something. "Either way..." dropping it for now, she stood up on her own and latched herself around his arm, "I'm gonna make sure Natsu here doesn't slack off" telling her 'other' self, "It would be a waste to have all that training equipment we bought go to waste...that's it, starting tomorrow I'll be 'Trainer Erza'" telling him, crossing her arms all proud, "I'll whip you into so much shape, the S-Class promotions are gonna be a walk in the park..."

Looking over at her a little dead, "I have a feeling by the time the S-Class Promotions come up... I won't even be able to WALK at all".

"Now you know how Knightwalker and I feel" narrowing her gaze at him. Though, she had failed to notice her comment had been taken a different way, "I... I mean..." a little flustered she struck the dragon slayer into the ground out of instinct, burning red as she felt steam popping out of her.

Everyone who was around broke out into a light laughter after hearing the little 'spat' between the two mages and the one from Edolas, though some of them either didn't have an idea what was happening, like Gray, or they were burning red with embarrassment like Lucy and Laki who had an inkling of an idea what was going on. Though, amidst the laughter, she looked around and realized how 'lucky' the two of them were to have found a place like this, but then, she also began to think that perhaps her life wasn't so bad after all. Everyone here, Natsu, Scarlet, all of them, most of them actually, had a past that was in shambles and were able to pick themselves up by coming here. And even though she wasn't 'from' here, she could believe that if she wasn't on the path she had been now, there would have been no way that she could have come to find her way here. It was a little upsetting, feeling, that she was going to have to go home, but even so, there were things she could probably do for her own home, and to do that, she would have to leave this regardless if she wanted to stay.

"Ahem..." Levy had said, trying to ignore the fluster on her face, "I've gotten it all set up" she told her, "Once you go through... the portal will close on its own so don't worry about us" she told her, inputting the coordinates. Just a short moment later, a green light had cackled out before greatly expanding into a large rectangular green window. In it, was her home. Edolas.

Peering through, she, without a doubt, recognized it as her own. "So... once I go through I'll be back home...?" asking the light blue haired mage operating the machine, "And... it'll close behind once I go through?"

"Yes..." telling her, "I hope... well... stay safe, Edolas Erza" telling her with a light smile, "Magic is really the only difference we have... but you don't need that to have a wonderful life".

Taking in her words, she let them sink as she took one last look at everyone. Before, when she stood in this very room, they treated her like and enemy, someone they wanted to get rid of and 'avenge', but, they had felt the same when they heard news of the 'other' world. It was a concept that baffled her for the longest, and perhaps she had only just began to understood what it meant to care for and be cared by friends and family. Though, as her gaze came to pass to Scarlet and Dragneel, there was a chance she was always surrounded by 'friends and family', and just had to open her eyes and see it.

Walking over, she rested her hand on her Earth Land counterpart's shoulder, "Scarlet...no..." shaking her head a little, "Take care, Erza" telling her with a light smile, "Make sure Dragneel over there sticks to his training... he has a lot of potential that's just waiting to be unleashed".

"I know..." returning the smile, "Give our regards to Mystogan while you're there, all right?" asking, "Stay well, 'Erza', and... maybe you were right in one thing" catching her off, "Power... can be taken and seen in many ways" telling her, "There's more than one correct answer" telling her, "I know that now".

Relieved that they were 'both' right, she felt she could finally be at peace with herself. "Dragneel" calling out to him, her expression less than smiley like she had given her 'other' self, "You're strong... but you can always be stronger" holding her fist out to him, "Got it?"

"Yeah" grinning large, he held the same out, "You better get stronger too... I'll be waiting for a re- however, before he could finish, she had cut him off.

Grabbing him by the collar, she pulled him in and pressed her lips hard against his, increasing the pressure by the second. After a small moment, she had shoved him to the ground, "Remember what I told you, Dragneel" telling him with a confident smile, "We're not people who express how we feel with 'words'" stating, and with that, she had jumped through the green portal.

As it closed behind her, she watched for the few seconds that remained what trouble she threw the poor dragon slayer into, knowing that there were at least two fairly jealous women who did not like to share a tiny bit. Though, with that, she was finally 'free' from everything and as she turned around to gather her surroundings, she had dropped her in at the entrance of her home, the town and kingdom of Edolas. Clutching her magic weapon, which, now that she was back home, just a normal spear, filled with perhaps with what ever magic may still be left, she began to make her way back into her world, and see what she could do with the time she had been gone. It had been a strange journey for her, and although for most of the time she had just spent it in a house, there was a whole experience she got to feel just being around those two. Erza Scarlet. Natsu Dragneel. Hopefully, there was something she could do with that those two had taught her, and even if wasn't a lot, she began to realize you didn't have to have a certain life to choose how they wanted to live. All she had to do, was push up forward, and let her desires be the fuel to keep her doing.

-[x]-

 _ **~One Month Later...~**_

Time had passed, and before she knew it, the ex 'Fairy Hunter' had done what she thought she could do in order to make her world a little better. Still, it was quite a shock as the first thing that had happened was that even though she had been gone for almost three months, the first thing she had decided to do was implement a 'new training' regimen that she was immediately enforcing upon all the remaining army. It was still a little satisfying that people here had 'feared' her enough to do something like that, but perhaps the 'strangest' thing she had done was actually recruit people from 'Edo Fairy Tail' by saying it was a request from their King, King Jellal, though she had persuaded him on the matter eventually.

Though, it was a little rocky, she had to admit, but after a short while getting help from the Fairy Tail of 'this world', things around the place was seemingly a little better than when she had last left it. There were some negotiations they had to go through in order to 'recruit' them, as most of them still were terrified of her and or didn't trust her after all that she had done to them, but it was lucky that the 'guild stamp' Mira from Earth Land, proved to be a 'decent' enough to at least persuade them, thinking 'if some strange Fairy Tail had trusted her to be in their own guild, then...' well, that was their mindset eventually. Regardless, she was able to find some meaning, perhaps though it was because she was so used to 'training' back in Earth Land and making a rival out of both Scarlet and Dragneel, that drove her to pursue such a thing.

And just as time passed, things had began to change, even if she herself hadn't noticed it. Before long, her scarlet hair had grown longer than she had remembered, looking just like it had before she bitterly cut it out of spite for Scarlet, and while she had thought about cutting it again, a part of her felt it would serve as a great reminder of her time in Earth Land. It wasn't much, but she had learned to admire it simply because there was 'nothing wrong' with it, as she had come to greatly respect the scarlet knight. But, as the time had gone on, there was also another thing she had noticed. A strange 'void' as if for a moment she had missed the 'annoying' couple as she called them. Always complimenting and helping another. Sometimes she found herself looking over at Dragion, Dragneel's Edolas counter-part, and while she knew they were vastly different, one majorly being he was terrifyingly afraid of almost everything, and oddly enough found a huge reason to make him train harder than she gave the others, probably just to fill some space. Either way, there was nothing much she could do but find her own means in this world.

Sighing, she found herself a little bothered as she made rounds around the city, making sure that everything was in place and nothing was 'out of sorts'. It was a tiresome duty, but some moments, not many, she would find some sort of 'criminal activity' and she would use that as a means to 'vent', and well, she couldn't necessarily spar any of the men or women here, much to her disappointment. "Ugh..." annoyed, her irritation was beginning to peak, "...Four days and the only 'challenge' I've had to do was get Dragion to leave his damn car for more than an hour" a part of her wanted to break that car of his, as it was the only thing the non-dragon slayer had paid any attention to, "Oh well... I guess i'll get into another brawl or something... hopefully one of them actually makes it 'hurt' this time..." bothered. Not many of the recruits were strong enough since she had done a lot of training back in the other world. Still, they were showing SOME signs of improvement.

As she continued to make trace back to the palace, she began to hear a loud ring from the bell tower that was installed in her time away. She was told that it was made so that if there was any threat to the kingdom, someone from the palace would run off and ring it so that all soldiers in the vicinity could be alerted and thus, quickly make their way back. However, this was the FIRST time she had ever heard it rung, and being the leader of the entire army, she knew it couldn't be good if it was being rang like this. Thus, she had rushed all the way back from where she was, following the mass of soldiers that were headed in her same direction as well. She wasn't assured by 'what' terrorist threat could be occurring, but if anyone would know, it would be one of the King's loyal followers, and perhaps once of them would know what is going on.

It was then she began to feel a light fear, remembering that before back in Earth Land there was that 'monster' known as a Berserker that had supposedly come from McGarden's world. And while she didn't out right think THAT was the case, she knew that anything was possible considering not even that Levy knew how that monster got there. Either way, she first ran into Edo Lucy, someone who was far more 'confident' than she remembered her Earth Land counterpart to be.

"Lucy!" calling out to her, catching the blonde with short hair and a side ponytail, "What's going on?" asking, hoping she'd know the situation.

Because Edo Fairy Tail had begun 'working' with the Kingdom and its forces, they were all issued 'special' armor so that they wouldn't be mixed or confused from the other citizens in town. "Dunno" bluntly telling her, "I was busy trying to find Natsu, but his stupid car was gone!" annoyed, a vein began to bulge in her face, "I swear... when I find him..."

"We'll deal with him later" dulling her eyes at her, "What about Levy and her Team?" she asked. It was strange that the 'closest' Levy to the one she knew from 137-C was the one from her 'Edolas Fairy Tail', as they were the first to get a jump start on building new technology and making vast improvements to the kingdom's military, "Has she yet finished whatever she said she was going to do?"

Shrugging, "Hell if I know" telling her straight, "All that Team ever do nowadays is stay cooped up in their stupid little 'lab' and 'train' with the soliders, they don't even bother stopping by anymore".

"Ughh... Damn it" annoyed. She couldn't be 'completely' peeved with this worlds Levy, as they were the three people who were working on improving society to make up for the worlds 'lack of magic'. Since the 'disappearance of magic' roughly half a year ago, a lot of things had gone out of commission, namely everything electrical they owned, vehicles, and importantly the weapons. While the weapons were no 'real loss', it was still a huge blow to society, and her Team was working on building ways to provide an 'alternative' power source. "Either way, we have to go".

The two of them continued to make their way off. It was a little strange, she felt, working with Edo Fairy Tail, as it almost felt like she hadn't left at all. Perhaps it was a slight twist of fate that she had begun to slowly 'like' the guild, even if she hadn't actually bonded with most of its members back in her time on Earth Land. Either way, it was the closest thing she had that was making her feel a little more at ease, being around the people she had somewhat recognized to help her readjust.

As the two of them made their way closer to the cluster where all the soldiers were gathered, some of them began to grow and panic in fear, while others had passed them down the stairs. This was bad. The more they ran they were getting closer to the King's Chamber, and this was something she couldn't let slide as she swore upon her arrival, to protect this place. It was then that she hurriedly grabbed onto Edo Lucy's arm before grabbing her spear tightly. She knew there wasn't that much magic left in her weapon, but while she came back she had realized she managed to 'hold onto' what magic she had retained in the spear before her departure. And since King Jellal had destroyed and 'removed' the Anima from its place, she was a little secure in keeping what magic was there, it was just now that it was limited and she hadn't wanted to use it and waste what was there.

"Hold on..." telling Edo Lucy, "'Silfarion'!" like that, the tip of her spear changed into a rectangular point with a darkened outlined edge, and she rushed off, using its increased speed, raced through the rest of the Kingdom to the room just before the King's chambers. She was lucky all that training she had been keeping up was paying off, as she was able to quickly make her way way, slipping past all the fleeing guards, just until she reached the pack of guards before deactivating it. "Lucy, we're here-", turning to face her 2nd in command, she realized she was a little dizzy from the sudden speed increase, "...Nevermind" letting go of her. Pushing through, "Outta the way! Captain and First in command of his Royal Highness-" however, just as she managed to get through to see what was going on, she froze in disbelief.

Standing there, was a couple she knew fairly well. One of them was a young woman, and had long scarlet red hair that easily began to shadow the right half of her face. She had on a set of silver armor with a cross embedded in the middle of it, and it was nicely fitting with a brown side bag worn over it. Another thing she had was a long navy skirt, long that just reached past her knees, and beside her, was a young man with ruffled pink hair. He had a long sleeved red shirt, and a red collar with a scarf looked like it was made from dragon scales wrapped around his neck. The pants he wore were lightly beige that were cut above his ankles, and he had black sandals.

"Ah! Edo Erza!" smiling carefree, he casually held his hands behind his head, "Long time no see~" saying. He had a light jagged scar that cut its way through his right cheek, "Say... can you tell these guys I wanna see Mystogan?" looking a little bored, "I wan'ed to tell him something" looking a little tired. It was Natsu Dragneel, and if that was the case, the one beside him was undoubtedly Erza Scarlet, both from Earth Land.

Sighing, Scarlet held her face in her hand, "Natsu beat the crap out of all of them just 'cause Levy warped us in the middle of the Palace..." a little exasperated, "THEN they called in even more because he tried to just 'walk' into the King's throne room".

"OI..." dulling his eyes at her, "You were the one that beat the crap out of the big guy because he was 'being rude' in not showing you where Mystogan was, remember?"

Caught, the scarlet knight fell a little embarrassed and in shame noted as her face burned completely red, "...Bu...But he used to be our friend..." fiddling a little with her fingers, feeling a little rejected all of a sudden.

Seeing the sight of these two really brought a feeling back to her that she thought she was never going to feel again, though, the hard part was convincing everyone else to 'leave' them alone. She knew the reputation Dragneel had here being the 'Great Demon Lord', so if she were to simply say he's 'a friend' riots would surely break out, and if she were to try and explain they're from 'another world' they would think that she was working too hard and that she needed a break. Though, seeing the look on Edo Lucy's face, she began to think up of another plan.

"Leave this place at once!" telling the guards, "I will handle this... this fiendish 'Great Demon Lord' and his 'Scarlet Slave'" telling them.

Raring, all the people were really to go, "You show 'em!" rallying behind her, "We'll fight too! We won't let our Captain down!" another would shout out.

"No!" telling them abruptly, "You've no idea what power they may have" warning them, "I will use my 'magic' spear to take them down, it will be fierce,... but I do not wish to get you all involved in its way!" adding, "You are all proud soldiers of the Edolas, you must live on for your Kingdom... Now leave!"

Sadden, all the soldiers began to leave, some of them were a little sad to have to see their Captain fight the lone harsh battle on her own, knowing that she may never make it out. Regardless, they wanted to at least honor her last wishes, and without arguing, they had all fled, leaving the room just before the King's room empty. Though, to be honest as glad as she was that they bought that, she couldn't help but feel a little peeved they had ACTUALLY left without arguing with her a little bit. She would have to remember that later when she 'defeated' the evil duo, and dictated their training schedule for the rest of their life.

"See... she can act at the least" Natsu commented, earning him a rightful smack down his head by the Titania.

Annoyed, she looked at him with a light glare, "When we get home... you're gonna pay back for that comment, Natsu" telling him, "and YOU" turning to face Knightwalker, "In what sense am I his 'Scarlet Slave'? If anything I'm the wonderful Red Knight of Death, and he's my 'wonderful' Dragon of Destruction!" pulling him close, embracing him a little affectionately.

"Well... that's not how I remember it" smirking at her, cause Scarlet to jump a little, burning far redder than her hair, "Anyways... follow me, the King should be in the throne room..." she began to tell him as she made her way through them, "Either that, or he's 'observing' the growth of the city... but I didn't see him on my way here" opening up the doors.

Relieved, "That's good to hear" Scarlet had said, following her counterpart.

As the two of them made their way in the King's Chamber, they had come to face a young man with blue hair, and a red tattoo over his right eye, and although he was wearing 'royal attires' there was no doubt that this man was once the 'mage' known as 'Mystogan' that had helped and been with their guild for so long. Well, aside from the red tattoo and blue hair. Another alias of him was 'Jellal', but as he got to know Erza Scarlet, he had hid himself and his identity in order to ease her mind since he was the 'Edolas counterpart' of her former friend and love. It had been a long while since the two of them had departed, since Natsu left to make him the 'hero' who saved Edolas, but nevertheless the two of them were glad to see their old friend once more.

"Natsu...? Erza...?" seeing the two walk behind the scarlet knight's 'Edolas' counter part, "I thought I sealed up and destroyed the Anima" saying, "How did you both-"

A little excited, the dragon slayer was the first to talk, "Levy made some Inter-dimen...something...-"

"Interdimensional Viewing Device" Scarlet had corrected him.

Shrugging a little, "Yeah,... that" pointing to her with his thumb, "That was how Edo Erza got taken to our world...and well... how she got back" explaining it to him.

"I see..." taking it all in, "Erz...well, 'Edo Erza' had told me all about her time there" he began to tell her, "I'm very thankful my old family had been taking well... some good care of our Army's leader" telling them, "But tell me, what brings you both here?" a little curious, "Is everything not well back on Earth Land?" concern took him over.

Looking at another, Erza nodded before speaking up, "Mystogan" calling out to him, "We're here for two different reasons" she began to say as she fished out something from the bag around her. It was several 'thick' books with bunches of paper out, "We recently came in contact with 'another' Levy from another universe, and she was the one who helped our Levy fix the machine to send Knightwalker back home" she began to say as she handed them to him, "Recently, she had come back in contact with us saying she was hoping that we hadn't already sent Knightwalker back home since she said there were things she wanted her to give you".

"What is it?" looking down at the texts, he couldn't begin to understand what it was, "It looks like some kind of..."

With a smile, "It's how you can 'save' your world" she told him. The moment she had said that, both Edo Erza, Edo Lucy, and Mystogan looked at her in shock.

"What do you mean... 'save-" he couldn't imagine what she could mean. As he opened the texts, he realized a lot of them were blueprints for several 'energy' conduits they could use in replace for magic, "How... I thought Earth Land..."

Smiling, Natsu popped in, "You see... where that Levy is from, apparently her 'Natsu' is super smart" telling him, "And! not to mention as strong as GILDARTS, can you imagine that?"

"Natsu, you're getting off topic..." Scarlet had reminded him, "Long version short... the world 'that' Natsu travels to is like this, a world that has 'no magic'" explaining, "So she figured it should work the same principles here... more or less" telling her.

Everyone was amazed with how their 'troubles' were beginning to wrap up more or less, and especially it had come from Mystogan who was just relieved to see his old friends again. For a while they had been trying to figure out alternative methods to power the city since they've been using a sort of 'glitchy' electrical system, and had yet to find a better fuel source for all their vehicles. And as he looked through the pages more and more, there were ingredients and blue prints for armor, weapons, buildings,... needless to say, it was just the thing they needed to help push their city into a 'new age' so that a concept of 'magic' was never needed. The things they had given him was far too much that he could ever repay, and while he knew that they wouldn't accept it, he couldn't help but feel a little 'guilty'.

"Natsu... Erza..." saying as he faced the two of them, "Thank you... so much" with a light smile, he was glad to have had friends with them, "Is... that all you came for?" asking.

Looking at another, the couple gave Mystogan a 'dark' smile, "Nope! Far from it" Natsu was the first, "There's one more thing we came here here, and we ain't gonna go back with out that other thing" teling her.

"Sure... what is it?" asking, "I mean,... you've both done a lot already... what is it could you guys want?"

Smiling, the two of them looked at him, "We want Erza Knightwalker" saying as the dragon slayer leaned against his beloved knight.

"..." everyone in the room fell silent, most notable Erza Knightwalker who didn't get what she was saying. "You guys... want me?" dulling her eyes, she wasn't sure what to make of it. "Didn't I make myself clear, Dragneel, Scarlet?" calling out to them a little bothered, "I don't belong there, I belong here. This is where my home is. Besides... the King would never allo-"

Before she could finished Mystogan had interrupted her, "What do you plan to do if you 'have' Erza Knightwalker" he inquired, looking at the too.

"Isn't it obvious?" the dragon slayer at looked at him a little blank, "We're gonna go back to Earth Land... Train... eat... uh..." dulling his eyes a little, "Basically... we just miss her is all" grinning large and sheepish.

The words took her by surprise. They had missed her. If she were honest, there was 'probably' a part of her that had missed them as well, but she knew that there was no way she could allow herself to stay there. There was still a lot she needed to do 'here' and one of those things she felt, was to own up to her terror, causing all the trouble she had. Before she had thought she could 'atone' by simply just listening to what the King had told her to do, fix the city because he told her to, but while she was there in Earth Land, she had realized if she really wanted to atone, she had to do it like those two had, but putting themselves out willingly and facing whatever harshness came their way, since, it was only because of them that she was able to leave as peacefully as she had. That was why, when she came here, she found it perfect. Own up to her 'mistakes' by throwing herself out there, making things right because she wanted to, not because someone had told her to, and then maybe, if she was deserving, there would be a time she could find that place with her that was 'peace'.

It had pained her, that much she began to understood, but there was no way she could take their request and plea, even if they had missed her. They would have to find some other way or other demand they could have, but 'having' her was not something she would even allow. With the plans they were given, she still needed to help the city, defend it, and because of that, she wasn't sure how long it would take. This was the path she had chosen, and there was no hesitating.

"I'll allow it" Mystogan had said. Surprising her, and everyone. "Now, I'm not simply 'exchanging' a valuable member of my forces for information, mind you" saying as he held up the texts, "But rather, because it seems like she herself had wanted to stay there".

Annoyed, she began to argue with him, "My King, I would ne-..."

"Knightwalker" calling out to her, "From the moment you came back to this world, you have told me yourself you wish to do something so that you may 'forgive' yourself for the crimes you have committed" reminding her, "And when I saw the guild stamp... I began to realize why you chose to 'seek' atonement on your very own. That is why, Lucy will be taking your position" stating.

This drew a shock from everyone, especially Edo Lucy, "Wait... what" dropping her eyes at the king.

"No complaints, that's an order" sternly telling the blonde, "Now give these to Levy and her Team, tell her I want her to drop whatever it is she's doing and to work on this" handing the texts over, "And work on increasing Knightwalker's training, we can't be falling behind with a new leader in place".

A little startled, the 'fear' he induced in her eyes forced her to 'pay respects', "Y-Yes Sir!" saying as she hurriedly made her way off.

"But... My Ki-" Knightwalker had tried to say, before she was cut off once more.

This time he faced her, "Knightwalker. You seek 'atonement' but still have no means of finding it" taking from how things were, "Because of that, for your 'crimes' against the kingdom..." saying, instilling light terror inside of her, "...Protect the family I grew up with" finishing it off, changing to a gentle tone. "You are a strong, capable warrior... and it's obvious that in your time there you've only gotten stronger" he began to say, "That is why... you are relieved of your duties and responsibilities to the Kingdom... and you will be 'sentenced'" saying it lightly, "To live out your days on Earth Land... Protecting the Fairy Tail that lives there".

"..." she didn't know what to say. Everything had come and gone so fast that she wasn't sure what feeling to process, "...As you wish, my King" bowing in respect to him, she held that position for a few moments, "What about..." raising up her Ten Commandments.

Smiling a little gentle, "You'll need it wouldn't you?" asking, "There are great smiths in Earth Land, I'm sure the Titania there would be happy to show you a place where you may fix your 'Ravelet' once more, so you'll be able to defend it with all your might..."

"My King..." shaking, she wasn't sure what it was she was feeling, until she faced him with resolve, "Thank you, I am truly grateful to have been in your services..." and as they exchanged smiles, she turned to the face the couple behind her, "Dragneel... Scarlet..." calling out to them lightly, "I swear upon my Ten Commandments... that I wil-"

Before she had finished, the dragon slayer had poked her forehead, "What happened to 'we don't express with our words'?" smiling at her a little large, "If you got something to say,... you know how to show it" passing her an confident smile.

"Oh... you're asking for it Dragneel" returning the same smile, "When I'm done with the both of you, you'll be begging and wished I used 'my words' instead of actions".

Feeling challenged, "Bring it on, Knightwalker" telling her, "We got all the time in the world now to 'settle' things" she began to say, "I still haven't forgotten what you did to 'my' Natsu before you left" feeling a little ticked, "Though... we really should be getting back home now..." paying attention to Mystogan, "It was really nice to see you again" saying before looking up, "Levy! We're ready to come home!" shouting.

It was then a green cackle of light began to appear, and as sparked a couple times, a large green rectangle formed, and in it was was the 'other' Fairy Tail in Earth Land. Mystogan had seen this, and amazed, he began to see 'everyone' that was in his old home and felt warm knowing that all of them were still doing well. He wasn't the only one, however. Everyone who was 'watching' them saw how Mystogan 'really' was a king, and was actually shocked by that fact, and especially how he looked like their 'own' Jellal, who was a convict in their world. Many of them were trying to wave and squeeze in as much as possible wanting to see their old companion again, but it was soon cut short as the three made their way over to the green portal. Pausing for a moment, they had exchanged one last look between them, the king and his three friends, and they waved off one more time before they made their way through, the green portal closing in behind them.

[ /\ \/ ]

Though, unfortunately there was a 'little' work need to be done, as the three of them were warped in the front of the couple's house. Well, that was what she assumed it was. The area they were in was much larger, like more of the trees had been cleared out making more space available than she had remembered. Another thing that was different, was that the house was definitely larger, probably the 'renovation' that Scarlet had mentioned she wanted to do had finally passed through. Before it was just a simple house with simple features, but from what she could gather, there were at least two floors to the place, and the house had expanded a lot on the inside. In short, it was twice the width and height, taking her by surprise. There were also 'lots' of training gear out in the from on the side of the house, assuming that in her absence to two of them had gone out of their way to 'increase' the efforts of their training because of what had happened a month ago.

"It's... what did you guys do?" asking, she turned to the couple in dismay, "It's like you just 'stole' someones house... it's..."

Groaning, the dragon slayer looked a little exhausted, "Erza wanted to 'remodel' as soon as possible" he told her as the three made their way in, "So there was A LOT of tearing down... a lot of building... a lot of installing..." the way he sounded like made it seem like he was the one who had to do it all, "Basically I don't remember getting a winks eye in the past month".

"Oh come on..." saying a little sweetly, Scarlet had clung to him, "It's great isn't it?" asking him, "Besides, we finally have a place where I can live at and not have to keep trucking back and forth" saying, remembering that she used to live at Fairy Hills, "Though... there's one 'imperfection'", she began to note... being a little annoyed.

Curious, she looked at them unsure what she had meant. "Natsu~" hearing a chipper voice, it became aware what they meant. The moment the had entered the newly 'built' house, there was a young woman with long silver hair, and a pink dress with white frills around the sleeveless areas, "You're back~" It was was Mira, who, for some reason had made herself look like she lived here. "Ah! Knightwalker... so good for you to join us in our lovely abode" saying with a smile.

"Demon...!" reminded of the silver haired demon, she readied her spear, "What is... how are you..." looking at the two for answers.

Sighing, the Titania answered, "She helped us remodel..." bitter, remembering that time, "No one else wanted to do it, but she said she'd help as long as she could stay here from 'time to time'" telling her.

"Awee... don't be like that Erza~" Mira had said, 'latching' onto the pinkette, "I worked very hard to get your home the way it was remember?~"

Glaring, "That's the thing. YOU DIDN'T" feeling a vein pop, "You made Elfman help Natsu do it!" reminding her.

"I got it done though didn't I?" continuing to smile at her. It was then amidst her 'teasing' she remembered something, "Oh... before I forget!" saying, she rushed off for a bit, making her way back into the kitchen and coming back, "Someone came by while you guys were gone" saying, "She handed me these and 'just left'".

In her hands were three decently thick text books with a note on it. And as the three of them looked through it, Scarlet began to look through the book titles to see what it meant. One was a red text labeled, 'Magic Weapons: Crafting Weapons of Destruction', another was a blue text labeled, 'A Guide to greatly enhance your magic containers', and 'Requip/Teleporting: Spatial Magic for Dummies'. It was strange, that while all of them could be said they were for 'Knightwalker', the odd thing was was that someone had just 'dropped' them off. Something about this seemed fairly odd, but they couldn't help but admit it was fairy useful, and as they opened the note, there was a folded blueprint for a 'Magic retaining Lacrima', something along the lines of Mystogan's X-Pills, but a way to allow a 'normal' person to infuse and allow to gather magic like a normal mage. But the strangest, was the note which read, 'Play nice you three... Pay me back by giving me a happy ending ^^ ~'.

"Mira... did... who gave this to you?" Erza asked, looking up at the take over mage, "These texts... it's something I don't think normal places have" commenting. "I mean they're useful, VERY... useful but..." her eyes were filled with concern as something about this seemed so familiar.

Thinking, the silver-haired demon of Fairy Tail began to remember, "I think she was about our age,... maybe?" guessing, "She had round glasses... long dark hair, twintails forming from the nape of her neck... and she looked like some kinda scholar,...I think, she just carried some large suitcase like it was nothing" assuming, "She said she 'screwed up' somehow so she's hoping giving us these books 'fixes it' or something..."

"What... does this mean?" Knightwalker had asked, wanting to be filled in.

Turning to face her counterpart, "It means with this... you could actually be a mage" Scarlet had told her, "...But for now, let's leave that for later..." placing the books down, "Natsu, wanna go outback and show Knightwalker how much you've improved?"

"Oh yeah... I've been waiting a whole month for this" smirking at her with confidence, "Erza's taken your training, and made it a 100x worse for us... but it was so worth it, wanna see?" grinning a little devlishly.

Not being one to pass up a fight, "Oh... Perfect..." grinning a little cocky, "You're on, Dragneel".

It was then they all rushed outside, namely because Scarlet had wanted to see the look on her face when she shows off what training under her had flourished for him. Facing off, they loosened up their bodies and prepared themselves for a fairly lengthy fight. With the arena expanded as much as it was, there was much more room for her to show off her 'Ten Commandments' and all the things she could do with it and what she learned over her time back in Edolas. Though, she couldn't lie she was also a little excited to see what he had learned over month's time as well. Whether it wasn't that 'long' a gap since they last met, it was still a fairly decent about of time, and if he was training under Erza Scarlet, enhancing her own training regimen, there was no doubt she was going to see some results. And as the battle started, she rushed in, readying her spear and keeping track of everything of his movements.. However, the was one thing she didn't expect.

As he stared her down, flares of flames ran rampant, burning and climbing far higher and hotter as the air around them began to simmer and start to boil. Her breath was heavy from the roaring fire that was burning around. That wasn't too bad, but her heart 'trembled' as she saw the next thing to happen. Motioning her over with his hand ablaze with the words 'Come On' flared out above his fingers, light red scales began to slowly etch onto his face, very much like that day. Before her stood the flaming red dragon she had seen and it was then she began to smile a little sadistically, remembering this 'lovely' burning feeling.

She was Home.

 _ **The End?**_

* * *

 **A/N: I AM SO TIRED... (Darky has been working on this since TUESDAY...so almost five days) But yeah, I'm sorry this is so long! I thought it would be 'okay' as a finale to sort of 'end' things on and I wanted well...(Darky is obssessed with ending on either 5 or 10 chapters) yeah..._. but I didn't want to make it 10 because a lot of it would've been dull stufff... but yeah. Sorry about all the words and stuff. I've been a little eeehhhh lately ;w; breaching and pushing what's 'T' and 'M' has been difficult 'cause I didn't wanna make it ENTIRELY M just cause of one chapter. But yeah! This the END... or IS IT :O... (It's not) true, not gonna bother lying. I wanted this story to be an 'origin' of sorts of how Knightwalker came to be, and laatteerrrrr, i'll work on AU-Canon event stuff... so tenrou...GMG...all that good stuff. Later stuff. xD. I'm really tired though. I know you guys expect me to gush and what not in my A/N but im super exhausted... I literally wrote like... 15k in a day... 'cause i didn't know how long it'd. Uhhh... what else. Oh yeah. Sequel to this will DEFINITELY be 'M'. So..yeah... you guys must have noticed I personally struggled 'taming' it as much as I could... props to 'thehappy' and their story 'A Dragon of the COG' for ideas on the 'Berserker'. I've never played GOW in my life, but their story is great. So... yeah... I hope you enjoy it... I'm gonna... I dunno... pass out for a few years. If you're curious about some stuff message me, it's all cool. Lemme know what you think here in a review :heart: and uh... (Darky's passing folks.. so much effort in this finale for you guys. So I'll finish for them. Thank you for your support. What do you think'll happen in the Sequel? and that's all. Thank you once more :heart:)**


End file.
